GAINSBOROUGH
MISS STEPHENS
MRS. FITZHERBERT
R.BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
PRINCE OF WALES
MRS SHERIDAN
LORD RADNOR
THE ANCESTOR
^
A Quarterly Review of County and
Family History, Heraldry
and Antiquities
EDITED BY
OSWALD BARRON F.S.A
NUMBER IX
APRIL 1904
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD
2 WHITEHALL GARDENS
WESTMINSTER S.W
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M
At,
1130187
CONTENTS
MU
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SHERIDAN FAMILY
WILFRED SHERIDAN I
FAMILY HISTORY FROM PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS
J. HORACE ROUND 6
BLOHIN : HIS DESCENDANTS AND LANDS
REV. THOMAS TAYLOR 20
A SALISBURY FIFTEENTH CENTURY DEATH REGISTER
A. R. MALDEN 28
A GENEALOGIST'S CALENDAR 36
NOTES ON THE TILES AT TEWKESBURY ABBEY
HAL HALL 46
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND W. H. B. BIRD 65
GEORGICS 83
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 89
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN ! THE EDITOR 103
FIFTEENTH CENTURY COSTUME .... THE EDITOR 113
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 137
THE CUMINS OF SNITTERFIELD . . . J. HORACE ROUND 146
WHAT IS BELIEVED 150
A FIFTEENTH CENTURY ROLL OF ARMS 159
OUR OLDEST FAMILIES : XI. THE OGLES . THE EDITOR 181
THE WESTBURY CUP SIR J. C. ROBINSON 187
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM T. BARRETT LENNARD 191
NOTES FROM THE NETHERLANDS . . H. G. A. OBREEN 210
HERALDS' COLLEGE AND PRESCRIPTION. IV.
W. PALEY BAILDON 214
THE CURWENS OF WORKINGTON 225
THE FORTUNES OF A MIDLAND HOUSE
W. P. W. PHILLIMORE 230
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 234
EDITORIAL NOTES 256
The Copyright of all the Article* and Illustrations
in thit Review is strictly reserved
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A GROUP OF SHERIDANS Frontispiece
WILLIAM SHERIDAN, BISHOP OF KILMORE
FAGt
op.
DR. SHERIDAN.
THOMAS SHERIDAN, A.M 2
MRS. SHERIDAN (Miss FRANCES CHAMBERLAIN) . 4
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN AS A YOUNG MAN IN FANCY DRESS . 6
MRS. SHERIDAN (Miss LINLEY) AND HER BROTHER 8
WILLIAM LINLEY, FATHER OF MRS. SHERIDAN 10
MRS. SHERIDAN (Miss LINLEY) AS ST. CECILIA . . . . . . 12
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN ,, 14.
THOMAS SHERIDAN, SON OF RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN 16
CHARLES KINNAIRD SHERIDAN IN SUIT OF ARMOUR 1 8
LADY GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF SOMERSET 20
A MOTLEY FAMILY PORTRAIT 22
TILES AT TEWKESBURY ABBEY. Eighteen plates 47-^3
ILLUSTRATIONS OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY COSTUME. Eleven plates . 116-136
THE WESTBURY Cup . op. 188
M
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SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SHERIDAN
FAMILY
THE immorta,! Bob Acres in the Rivals is made to say,
' Think what it would be to disgrace my ancestors ' ;
to which his servant rejoins, * Under favour, the surest way of
not disgracing them is to keep as long as you can out of their
company.' Our ancestors are very good kind of folks, but they
are the last people I should choose to have a visiting acquaint-
ance with,' and in reviewing my ancestors I cannot but heartily
endorse the sentiments expressed.
The first Sheridan, of whom there is no authentic record
save a document preserved in the College of Arms at Dublin,
was named Oscar O'Seridan of Castle Toger, co. Cavan.
His date is given as 1014, and he married a daughter of the
O'Rourke, Prince of Leitrim ; from them were descended a
high sounding roll of Princes of Leitrim, of Sligo, and of
Cavan, a glorious roll of names unhampered by dates or
evidences, in which the arrival of one Jane Atkinson as a bride
of the late fourteenth century period, offends by its common-
place probability. After Jane the pedigree halts rather
lamely, as though the course of the hitherto pure and undefiled
stream of ancestry could not resume its flow of unbroken
nonsense after meeting such a rock of middle-class nomen-
clature. But when facts are encountered, our pedigree may
at least be said to begin happily enough with a celebrity.
William Sheridan (1635-1711) was the first male about whom
anything is known, and he attained a celebrity which no
successor has ever attempted to emulate, for he became Bishop
of Kilmore, and from an old print (reproduced) seems to
have had the cast of countenance described by a descendant
as a ' damned disinheriting one,' A Sheridan bishop is not
a personage one can contemplate with any gravity, and so
we pass on to his son Thomas Sheridan, an Irishman of the
most pronounced type. He was born in 1687, matricu-
lating at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1707, and married when
very young Elizabeth Macfadden, who brought him as her
dower the lands of Quilca Dumbrat and Carrickacrow, pro-
2 THE ANCESTOR
perty which had belonged to the Sheridans, who through
their allegiance to James II. had forfeited it in favour of
Charles Macfadden, a supporter of William of Orange.
The happy accident of marriage restored the property to
its original possessors. Dr. Thomas Sheridan, soon after his
marriage, became the intimate friend of the terrible Dean
Swift, who procured for him a schoolmastership in Dublin
yielding him 1,000 a year, and endeavoured to get him to
accept one of 1,400 outside Dublin. Dr. Thomas however
with fatal judgment, acting on the advice of other people,
remained in Dublin there is a letter of his extant to Swift
which tells the story. * As for my quondam friends, as you
style them, quondam them all, for they lulled me to sleep
till they stole my school into the hands of a blockhead, and
have driven me towards the latter end of my life to a disagree-
able solitude/
Swift however, with a good nature not very character-
istic, did not despair, and through his influence the Lord
Lieutenant Carteret, afterwards Lord Granville, appointed
Dr. Sheridan one of his private chaplains, and gave him a
living in the county of Cork. His first sermon there was
also his last, for not being, when Sunday arrived, prepared
with a discourse, he seized the first that came to hand. Now
it so chanced that the date was i August, and the anniver-
sary of Queen Anne's death, and among the Whigs a day of
great rejoicing. The text he had elected was : * Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof.' This, as may be imagined,
was speedily turned to his disadvantage, though the sermon
itself was absolutely free from Jacobitism. Dr. Thomas was
dispossessed of his living, his name was struck off the list of
chaplains, and he was forbidden to appear at the Vice-Regal
Court.
Friends however seemed to surround this eccentric divine,
who must have had something very lovable in his nature,
for his predecessor in the living he had quitted under such
peculiar circumstances presented him with a house and estate
with a rental of 800 a year. On the strength of this, Dr.
Thomas lived up to twice the amount. Thomas the eldest
boy was sent to Westminster School, and concerts and dinner
parties were of frequent occurrence. Soon however his
school began to fail from competition, and in a short time he
was again in difficulties. Swift once more came to the rescue,
THOMAS SHERIDAN, A.M.
THE SHERIDAN FAMILY 3
and for some time Dr. Sheridan lived as an inmate of the
deanery. A quarrel soon came. Swift asked Dr. Sheridan
to note and tell him if he (Dr. Swift) was growing stingy with
old age. With the brutal frankness of a thoroughly unsophis-
ticated nature, Dr. Sheridan ' all his faults observed, set in a
note-book, learned and conned by rote to cast into his teeth.'
Swift resented it quite as much as Cassius, and in a far
more practical form, for he turned Dr. Sheridan out of the
house, and so ended a friendship which had produced kindness
and benevolence from one, and humour and native wit of a
high quality from the other. It is noteworthy that each
wrote a life of the other, and that each regretted bitterly the
trivial cause that had separated two lifelong friends.
Dr. Sheridan died in October 1738, and Thomas Sheridan
his son reigned in his stead. Born in 1719, he was but nine-
teen years old at his father's death. His education at West-
minster and subsequent induction into Trinity College,
Dublin, had fitted him for nothing but an easy life, a state his
temperament and means were against his ever achieving.
Left almost penniless at his father's death, he resolved to
adopt the stage as a path to fortune, and for a time Dublin
received him as her Garrick. There was in my possession a
play-bill of Othello, in which the heavily leaded characters
are MR. SHERIDAN (lago) and MR. GARRICK (Othello), with
an announcement that the parts on future nights would be
alternated, Mr. Sheridan playing the Moor and Garrick lago.
So well were his efforts crowned that he became manager and
part owner of the Dublin theatre. An unfortunate quarrel
with one of his company resulted in the theatre being wrecked
and Mr. Sheridan beggared.
Mr. Sheridan, I fear, suffered all through life from being
somewhat pompous and not a little of a prig. Moreover he
was dull, and as such, however wronged a person may be, it is
very difficult to raise any great degree of sympathy for their
troubles. He had to leave Ireland, to let the wreckage of his
theatre, and turn his hand, a somewhat heavy one, to elocution
and the study of oratory. Here he fell foul of Dr. Johnson,
who descended upon his efforts with elephantine wit. * I
ask a plain question. What do you mean to teach ? What
influence can Mr. Sheridan have on the language of this great
country by his narrow exertions. Sir, it is burning a candle
at Dover to show light at Calais.'
4 THE ANCESTOR
In 1747 Mr. Sheridan married Miss Frances Chamber-
laine, a lady whose novel, The Memoirs of Sidney Biddulpk,
is said to have taken the town by storm. Charles Fox pro-
nounced it the best novel of the age, and Dr. Johnson com-
plained that the plot was too harrowing. Sidney Biddulpb
was translated into French and dramatized for the stage.
Fired with success, she attempted a play, and Garrick enacted
the leading part in The Discovery, as it was called. This
too was received with rapture, and her fame as novelist and
playwright was secure.
The children of this not undistinguished pair were : first,
Charles Francis, Richard Brinsley and Elizabeth and Alicia.
Of these four the eldest was undistinguished. Alicia became
the wife of Joseph Lefanu and wrote novels that attained
a certain celebrity, but no enduring fame, Strathallan, I im-
agine, being the best known or perhaps the least forgotten
of them.
Of the second son so much has been written and so little
in comparison is really known, that I hesitate to add to the
number of his commentators. All the civilized world knows
The School for Scandal ; the man is but a dullard who is
incapable of appreciating the wit of the Critic or the sparkling
satire of the Rivals.
His speeches, alas, are gone for ever. Reporting was very
different in those days to what it is now ; and singularly im-
perfect as the reports are, there are yet passages which quicken
the pulse and burn their way into the brain : his speech on
the mutiny at the Nore ; the wonderful oration against
Warren Hastings, the success of which was so great that the
House had to be adjourned for the effect to wear off.
He married twice ; by his first wife, the beautiful and
accomplished Miss Linley, he had one son, like his grandfather
and great-grandfather christened Thomas ; by his second
wife, Miss Ogle, daughter of the Dean of Winchester, a
daughter who died in infancy.
Tom, as he was generally called, inherited the beauty of
his mother and the wit of his father ; he married Henrietta
Callander, and by her had three daughters and three sons, all
distinguished alike for cleverness and extreme good looks.
Of the daughters, Helen married Lord Dufferin, and
became the mother of the celebrated diplomatist and am-
bassador. Caroline, married George Chappel Norton,
MRS. SHERIDAN.
(MISS FRANCES CHAMBERLAIN.)
A pastel artist unknown.
THE SHERIDAN FAMILY 5
Recorder of Guildford, and had three children, the second
son of whom, Thomas Brinsley, became Lord Grantley,
succeeding his uncle who was the great-grandson of the
famous Sir Fletcher Norton, Lord Grantley. At his death she
married Sir William Stirling Maxwell of Keir, by whom was
no issue.
Jane Georgina, Tom's third daughter, married the twelfth
Duke of Somerset. The * queen of love and beauty ' of the
Eglinton tournament, the newspapers of next year will often
recall her memory should the promised revival of that famous
folly ever take shape. Amongst her grandchildren are
the present Countess of Verulam, the present Duchess of
Montrose, the late Lady Houghton, and Mrs. George Faber,
also Sir Richard Graham of Netherby, who married in the
first place his first cousin Miss Baring, and secondly another
first cousin, Lady Cynthia Duncombe. These were the child-
ren respectively of Mrs. Charles Baring and of the Countess
of Feversham, who were the beautiful daughters of Fanny
Callander and Sir James Graham.
The three sons of Tom Sheridan and Henrietta Callander
were Brinsley, Frank arid Charles. Brinsley married Miss
Grarit, daughter of Sir Colquhoun Grant and heiress of
Frampton Court, Dorset. The marriage was celebrated
under romantic circumstances, the young couple eloping to
Gretna Green, their marriage being the last that took place
there.
Their third son, Algernon Brinsley, succeeded his father
and added to the lustre of the family by marrying Miss Mary
Motley, daughter of the gifted author of the Rise of the Dutch
Republic, who was for many years American Minister at the
courts of St. James and Vienna.
The only living daughter of Brinsley Sheridan and Miss
Grant is Florence, who married Lord Poltimore, whose eldest
son, Coplestone Bampfylde, married Margaret Beaumont, the
great-granddaughter of the celebrated George Canning.
WILFRED SHERIDAN.
THE ANCESTOR
FAMILY HISTORY FROM PRIVATE
MANUSCRIPTS
following selections are made from the MSS. of Lord
Carlisle, preserved at Castle Howard (6th Appendix to
1 5th Report on Historical MSS.). The descriptions of some
famous mansions of the eighteenth century are of interest.
Footnotes are added where required.
J. H. R.
LADY E. LECHMERE TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1721, 19 Aug. My Lord Warwick is gone off very young; I
hear he made no will, and there is but 300 a year goes with the title,
which will make a very poor Earl. 1
[LADY] MARY HOWARD OF WORKSOP TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1722, 23 May [London]. The many obligations I have formerly
received from your Lordship gives (sic) me the hopes of your favour in
this, which is in behalf of a relation of your Lordship's as well as mine,
Mr. Barnard Howard['s] son, 2 who came here with his family some
months ago. He is a stranger in these parts, and came here only for
his conveniency for some time ; so is only a lodger. The noise of a
plot has obliged the Lord Mayor to summon all gentlemen to the Hall
to take the oaths, or find bail. The first your Lordship knows is never
done amongst us ; the latter is what he cannot pretend to get by his
small acquaintance here. The favour that is desired from your Lord-
ship is one line to my Lord Mayor, [which] would make him not
require that of him which he does to [of] those that are housekeepers
here. He is to appear on Saturday next by nine of the clock in the
morning ; and if it were not improper for your Lordship to send one
to the Court, it would give a countenance to the distressed relation,
whose wife is more likely to die than live. I am sure, whatever you
will think fit to do in this affair, my son Norfolk will have the same
regard as if it was done to himself. Give me leave to beg one line in
answer to this.
1 He died aged twenty-three. The title went to his kinsman, and the
Kensington estate (recently in the market) to his aunt, Lord Kensington's
ancestress (see Complete Peerage).
Son of her husband's uncle, and ancestor of the present duke.
RICHARD BRINSI.EY SHERIDAN AS A YOUNG MAN, IN FANCY DRESS.
Artist unknown.
FAMILY HISTORY 7
SIR J. VANBRUGH TO LORD CARLISLE
1722, 19 June, London. I have only time to-night to acquaint
your Lordship with a few particulars I have learnt of what my Lord
Marlborough has left, which is more than the most extravagant
believers ever named.
He has left his widow (I wish some ensign had her) io,ooo/. a
year, to spoil Blenheim her own way ; 1 2,ooo/. a year more to keep
herself clean, and plague folks at law with ; 2,ooo/. a year to Lord
Sund[erland] for ever, and as much to the Duchess of Montague for
life ; 8,ooo/. a year to Lord Ryalton for present maintenance ; and
the gross of his wealth (for these are but snippings) to Lady Godolphin
and her successors, according to the grand settlement. I forgot one
article (a sad one) : he has only given Lord Godolphin a jointure of
3,ooo/. a year if he outlives my Lady. This I fancy was her Grace's
doings for not voting for her [on her appeal to the House of Lords in
her action against Sir J. V.]
LADY E. LECHMERE TO HER SISTER THE VISCOUNTESS OF IRWIN
1731, ii July, n.s., Paris. The Duke of Wharton has at last
finished a despicable, extravagant life. His estate and character died
before him, and his name will not long survive him. I believe no
person in the time ever made so effectual a dispatch of both, and it will
be difficult for any genius that comes after him to imitate him through
all the circles of his short course of life. . . .
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1731, 9 Dec., Albemarle Street. My house in Yorksfhirje 1 is
now entirely fitted up to be warm and convenient for my family, and,
with the wings, makes a regular front of 146 feet to the Park, and to
the north are three courts for offices. My chief expense has been in
Palladian doors and windows, which I am told have a very good effect,
and in building a stable for fifteen horses as a wing to the house, which
makes the regularity, and occasions so large a front, as I have mentioned
above. There is now nothing wanting for our reception but to put up
the furniture, which is ready there for that end, and I can assure your
Lordship in none of my future schemes I propose to myself so much
pleasure as in retiring to Rookby Park. How soon that may be, we
have not yet determined, but sooner or later in life 'tis what we shall
certainly do.
I was a fortnight in my tour into the eastern parts of England, and
was, during that time, a week at Houghton. 8 We were generally
between twenty and thirty at two tables, and as much cheerfulness and
i Rokeby Park.
3 Now belonging to Sir Robert's descendant, Lord Cholmondeley.
8 THE ANCESTOR
good nature as I ever saw where the company was so numerous. Young
Lady Walpole and Mrs. Hamond (Sir R[obert Walpole's] sister) were
the only two ladies. Sir Robert does the honours of his house extremely
well, and so as to make it perfectly agreeable to everyone who lives
with him. They hunted six days in the week, three times with Lord
Walpole's fox-hounds, and thrice with Sir R[obert's] harriers and
indeed 'tis a very fine open country for sport.
During the Duke of Lorrain's being there the consumption both
from the larder and the cellar was prodigious. They dined in the
hall, which was lighted by 130 wax candles, and the saloon with 50 ;
the whole expense in that article being computed at fifteen pounds
a night.
The house is less than Mr. Duncomb's, but as they make use of the
ground storey, and have cellars under that, I believe it is the best house
in the world for its size, capable of the greatest reception for company,
and the most convenient state apartments, very noble, especially the
hall and saloon. The finishing of the inside is, I think, a pattern for
all great houses that may hereafter be built : the vast quantity of
mahogoni, all the doors, window-shutters, best staircase, etc., being
entirely of that wood ; the finest chimnies of statuary and other fine
marbles ; the ceilings in the modern taste by Italians, painted by
Mr. Kent, and finely gilt ; the furniture of the richest tapestry, etc.;
the pictures hung on Genoa velvet and damask ; this one article is the
price of a good house, for in one drawing-room there are to the value of
three thousand pounds ; in short, the whole expense of this place must
be a prodigious sum, and, I think, all done in a fine taste. There is
only one dining room to be finished, which is to be lined with marble,
and will be a noble work. The offices are also built of Mr. Cholmley's
stone, and are well disposed and suitable to the house. In one wing
are the kitchens and all necessary rooms belonging to a table, servants'
halls, etc., and over head are several very good lodging rooms ; in the
other are the brew-house and wash-house, etc., and a very magnificent
hall for a chapel, and a large room which looks on the parterre, designed
for a gallery, there being the same in the opposite wing for a green-
house.
The enclosure of the Park contains seven hundred acres, very finely
planted, and the ground laid out to the greatest advantage. The gardens
are about forty acres, which are only fenced from the Park by a^W, and
I think very prettily disposed. Sir Robert and Bridgeman showed me
the large design for the plantations in the country, which is the present
undertaking ; they are to be plumps and avenues to go quite round the
Park pale, and to make straight and oblique lines of a mile or two in
length, as the situation of the country admits of. This design will be
about twelve miles in circumference, and nature has disposed of the
country so as these plantations will have a very noble and fine effect ;
and at every angle there are to be obelisks, or some other building. In
MRS. SHERIDAN (Miss LINLEY) AND HICK BROTHER.
Front a pastel ly Gainsborough.
FAMILY HISTORY 9
short, the outworks at Houghton will be 200 years hence what those
at Castle Howard are now, for he has very little full-grown timber, and
not a drop of water for ornament ; but take altogether it is a seat so
perfectly magnificent and agreeable, that I think nothing but envy
itself can find fault because there is no more of the one, and I scarce
missed the entire want of the other.
The stables (which are very large and [have] been finished about
thirteen years ago) are to be pulled down next summer, not only as they
are very ill built, but stand in the way of one of the most agreeable
prospects you have from the house, and 'tis not yet quite determined
whether they should be rebuilt as wings to the Park front of the house,
and as part of the whole design, or only a separate building, only for
use and not to appear. I own I argued strenuously for the former, but
Sir Robert seems almost fixed upon having a plain structure, and to be
placed out of the way and not to be seen in your approach to the
house. The other wings are thrown quite backwards into the garden,
and make very little ornament to this front of the house, which, being
without either a portico, three-quarter columns and a pediment, or any
other break, appears to me to be too naked and exposed, and rather as
an end front to a very large palace, than the principal one of a modern
house ; and wings to be built here would greatly obviate all objections
of this nature.
I had forgot his fine La[o]coon in brass, done by the famous
Gerrardon (who made my equestrian figure of Lewis 14-th), which
cost 1,000 guin[eas] at Paris ; a fine gilt gladiator, given him by Lord
Pembroke, and which is very prettily placed on four Doric columns
with their proper entablature, which stand in the void of the great
staircase : and the figure stands upon a level with the floor of the great
apartment, and fronts the door which goes into the hall, and has a very
fine effect, when you go out of that room. Upon the s[tair]case he has
several other fine bronzes, and twelve noble busts in the hall. His
statues for two niches are not yet bought ; the La[o]coon stands before
that which is opposite to the chimney.
I have said so much on Houghton, that 'twould be swelling my
letter to too great a size, to give my observations in this of the other
seats I saw in my tour, but will send them to your Lordship the
next post.
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1731, 12 Dec., Albemarle Street. I promised your Lordship in
my last letter to continue my remarks on the tour I lately made into
Norfolk, etc. I am the more emboldened in doing it, as this is a part
of England you have not seen a great many years, and all the great
improvements have not been of very long standing.
'Tis five miles from Sir Robert's to Lord Townshend's. 1 The
1 Raynham Hall.
io THE ANCESTOR
beauty of this place consists of three very noble woods. In that nearest
the house are some of as large oaks as I ever saw in my life ; and
at a proper distance from it is a piece of water of 26 acres, which
makes a sort of half-circle, and has a very noble effect. [The] greatest
part of the house was built by our Master Inigo Jones. It has lately
been sashed, and prettily ornamented on the inside by Mr. Kent ; and
the four fronts lays [lie] open to the Park, there being only a little
corridor which runs to a new building of kitchen offices, etc. The
situation is fine, and indeed it is a very noble seat.
Ten miles from Sir Robert's is Lord Lovell's, 1 who is beginning
his improvements, but has no other temptation than that his ancestors
lived there, and have left a large estate round an exceeding bad old
house, for his water is to [be] brought, his plantations but just begun,
and a house to be built, and not fifty pounds' worth of wood within two
miles of the place, so that 'tis pretty much the same as if any monied
person bought a 1,000 acres (which is the whole design) of any
common kind of ground of a tolerable situation, and begun a seat there.
His successors might reap an advantage, but life is too short for the
first generation to receive much benefit where there are so many
disadvantages from nature, and the whole to be compassed only by art,
time, and expense.
I was two days at the Duke of Grafton's, at Euston. The house
was built by his mother's father, 2 and, though of so short a standing, is
ready to fall, being so very slightly finished, and all the materials so
very bad. The garden of about 80 acres is fenced on one side from
the park by a brick wall in a fosst, as at Sir Robert's, and the slope from
the terras in the garden so wide, that the wall is plante[d] with fruit
trees, and so disposed that they have a sufficient quantity of sun to
ripen their respective fruits. On the other side the fence, between the
garden and the park, is a very pretty rivulet cut in a winding and
irregular manner, with now and then a little lake, etc., and over it in
one approach to the house is a wooden bridge built by Lord Burlinton,
with an arch that appears almost flat, and from hence you have a beau-
tiful prospect of the water, which is indeed delightfully disposed. The
park is about 9 miles about. The Duke has hitherto done very
little to it, but is now entering into a taste, but nature has done so
much for him, and his woods and lawns are disposed in so agreeable
a manner, that a little art and expense will make it a most charming
place. He has a wood out of the park something like Pretty-wood at
Castle H[owar]d, which might be made a noble thing.
In my way home, I spent a day with Lord Bristol at Ickworth,
which is by much the finest park I ever yet saw, being about 1,200
1 Holkham. Thomas Coke was created Lord Lovel in 1728 and Earl of
Leicester 1744.
a Henry (Bennet) Earl of Arlington (d. 1685).
WILLIAM LINLEY.
FATHER OF MRS. SHERIDAN.
FAMILY HISTORY n
acres, and above 25,ooo/. of exceeding fine oaks, etc. Within the
pale, the disposition of the woods, lawns [and] valleys (where for a
small expense he might have any quantity of water), and the rising
hills covered with large old timber, are all truly magnificent and agree-
able. They live in a tenant's old house in the park, so very bad a
habitation, that I am astonished how so large a family have so long
made a shift in it. The old mansion-house was pulled down about
twenty years ago, and those materials and others sufficient to build a
new house were led to another situation, and the new one determined
to be built ; but an ill run at play (as fame reports) stopped the design,
and most of the wood, brick, and stone have since been used in tenants'
houses. His Lordship has been at very little expense, but nature has
been so much his friend that little assistance is wanting from art.
I was at Lord Suffolk's at Audly End, 1 which stands upon a vast
deal of ground, but I think has not one comfortable room in it. The
park is very prettily improved, and a very genteel spot of ground,
though of no great extent.
From thence I closed my tour by spending a day at Lord Tilney's, 3
who expressed great concern he could not wait on your Lordship last
summer, when he was in the North, and [at] not having seen Castle
H[owar]d. From a punctilio of honour he told me he would not go
to Mr. Aislaby's, though he had an apportunity to have seen the place.
There is little done to the house since your Lordship saw it, but he
has made vast alterations in the gardens, undoing all that he has been
at vast expense doing, for a great many years past. He is now work-
ing hard to carry water almost round them, and by his plan, when
finished, the voyage will be a mile and a half. I own 'twill be very
fine, but 'twill make the enclosure so very large, and so great an ex-
pense, that I should rather have turned my thoughts and employed my
money in building offices, etc., to the front of the house, which being
one of the noblest in the world, 'tis pity everything about it should not
be proportionally fine, and in the same good taste.
I saw several other seats in my tour, but I must say, take all to-
gether, no one I ever yet was at is in my opinion equal to Castle
Howard, which I am told improves in beauty every day, and that the
mausoleum begins to have a very magnificent appearance.
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1732, 23 Dec., Albemarle Street. The Duke of Norfolk died at
two this morn ; it is currently reported he was poisoned by the
Jesuits some months since, on account of his having made some de-
clarations that carried the appearance as if he intended to turn Pro-
testant. Let that be as it will, his case entirely puzzled the doctors,
1 Now Lord Braybrooke's seat.
8 Wanstead, Essex. This once famous mansion has been demolished.
12 THE ANCESTOR
and was indeed a very extraordinary one ; he suffered as much pain as
'twas possible for any mortal to undergo for several weeks before his
death.
COL. THE HON. CHARLES HOWARD TO [LORD CARLISLE]
[1733], 3 May. I forgot to tell my sister Mary, last post, Lord
William Hamilton had run away with Miss Hawes 1 ; they were
married without their relations knowing anything of it. She is a
pretty young woman, but without a shilling ; and what's worse, her
father has not much in his power to give her, if he is reconciled. . . .
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO LORD CARLISLE, AT CASTLE HOWARD
1734, 6 June, Wentworth House. 2 I have been here since Mon-
day, and shall proceed forward on my journey this day. Lord and
Lady StrafFord called here yesterday in their way home. Lady Mai-
ton has desired me to acquaint your Lordship of it, and that they shall
now expect you and the Ladies at Wentworth House very soon ; her
Ladyship desires Lady Mary will excuse her not writing, as I write
this post to Castle Howard.
I can't quit this country without saying something of Stainbro' 3
and this place. The first is finely situated and has the prospect of a
pretty enclosed country ; the new castle just finished has an extreme
fine situation, and built entirely in the old castle style, but the room I
believe will be thought too little ; the gallery in the house answered
my expectations less than any room I ever heard talked of in my life,
it being out of all proportion and lighted like a green-house, and no
taste in the finishing ; the four marble columns in it are indeed for
their size very great curiosities ; the park lays very prettily round the
gardens, and ridings cut out in woods which surround the park, and
which are very handsomely disposed.
If in some things Lord Strafford's fell short of what I was told of
it, I was very agreeably surprised in finding this place improved in all
respects since I was last here infinitely beyond my expectations.
What may properly be called the house is about the same length in
front as Lord Tilney's 4 (260 feet); that front towards the garden
is entirely finished, being partly patch-work of the old house and
partly a new building, and excepting a very fine library, little can be
said in its praise, but when you come to the court front, amends will
be sufficiently made to all lovers of architecture, and when finished
'twill be a stupendous fabric, infinitely superior to anything we have
now in England ; the front of the house and offices (exclusive of the
1 Daughter and ' heir ' of Francis Hawes, Esq., of Parley.
3 Lord Fitzwilliam's seat.
3 Wentworth Castle, Stainborough, Yorks.
4 Wanstead.
MRS. SHERIDAN (Miss LINI.KY) AS ST. CECILIA.
Sir Joshua Reynolds.
FAMILY HISTORY 13
stables) being a line of 606 feet built of the most beautiful hewn stone
and the best masonry I ever saw ; these offices on each side of the
house are entirely finished. The upright of the house will be in the
same style as Lord Tilney's, only this portico will have eight columns
in front.
The hall will be 64 feet by 53 deep and 48 high, a prodigious
room ; on each side of it are three rooms, all six 24 high ; two of
them will be 36 feet square, two 26 in front and 38 deep, and two 24
in front and 36 deep. This whole front will contain twenty-one
windows, five of which are now just covered in. The whole finish-
ing will be entirely submitted to Lord Burlington, and I know of no
subject's house in Europe [which] will have seven such magnificent
rooms so finely proportioned as these will be. This part of the house
will be built entirely new from the foundations, and very conveniently
disposed to lay it to the old house ; and as Lord Tilney's has hitherto
been thought so fine [a] house, as some people imagined would never
have been excelled, I am very glad for the honour of Yorkshire to see a
pile going forward here that will in every respect infinitely exceed it.
The outworks are also large, and my Lord has a very fine command
of wood and water ; but none of the finishing strokes which give the
beauty to the whole are yet completed.
As it is impossible in one place or country to have everything, I
must now acquaint your Lordship, if the axle-trees of your coach are
not very strong, you will find it difficult to get thro* the country, the
roads being intolerable, by the vast number of iron-stone pits, coal pits,
and woods in the country. I have never yet been out, but I have met
carts and waggons overthrown, for there have been such plentiful rains
of late in this country, that the roads are almost as bad as in winter.
After saying so much of this place I can't finish my letter without
speaking something of the master and mistress of it, who really live as
happily together, as easy to those with them, and with as much hospita-
lity to their neighbours and goodness to their children and servants as
in any house I ever was in. I never spent six days more agreeably,
and am sorry to be obliged to leave them so soon. When I reflect
how soon your Lordship will be here, I beg pardon for taking up so
much of your time ; I desire my compliments to the ladies and Colonel
Howard.
P.S. The kitchen offices here are particularly worth seeing, and
are very noble ; and I would recommend the apartments for the poul-
try to Lady Irwin's observation, where she will find great variety or
the feathered specie[s], all magnificently lodged, and well attended on.
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1734, 23 December, Albemarle Street. There is a new taste in
gardening just arisen, which has been practised with so great success
at the Prince's garden in Town, that a general alteration of some of
B
H THE ANCESTOR
the most considerable gardens in the kingdom is begun, after Mr.
Kent's notion of gardening, viz. to lay them out, and work without
either level or line. By this means I really think the 12 acres the
Prince's garden consists ot, is more diversified and of greater variety
than anything of that compass I ever saw ; and this method of garden-
ing is the more agreeable, as when finished, it has the appearance or
beautiful nature, and without being told, one would imagine art had
no part in the finishing, and is, according to what one hears of the
Chinese, entirely after their models for works of this nature, where
they never plant straight lines or make regular designs. The cele-
brated gardens of Claremount, Chiswick, and Stowe are now full of
labourers, to modernise the expensive works finished in them, even
since every one's memory. If this grows a fashion, 'twill be happy for
that class or the people, as they will run no risk of having time lay on
their hands.
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO LORD CARLISLE
1736, 2 Dec., Albemarle Street. Mr. Lewis, 1 of Hampshire,
lately dead, has left his vast estate of 8,ooo/. a year to his grandson
Lord Plymouth, a sickly minor of about four years old, and for
guardians, Sir Robert Walpole, his brother Horace, Mr. Baron For-
tescue, and Dr. Mead, with legacies to each of 3,ooo/. And if my
Lord dies before twenty-one years of age, the whole estate to Sir
R[obert] W[alpole] and his heirs. This may prove a great donation,
and is now the subject matter of conversation here.
SIR THOMAS ROBINSON TO [LORD CARLISLE]
1737, 1 6 April, Albemarle Street. Mr. Nugent, who has lately
married the widow Knight (Mr. Craggs' sister 2 ), who gave him
5o,ooo/. on the day of marriage, the same sum to her son, and says
she has still ioo,ooo/. more in her own power. . . .
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
1768, 5 Jan. Lord Baltimore's rape, flight, and prosecution has
been the talk of the town these last few days, and the papers have
related the story, but how truly, I don't know 3 ; the fact is, that a
warrant from Fielding was issued to apprehend him, and he has made
his escape ; the girl's parents are Dissenters, and in good circumstances.
They are determined to reject all offers of composition. He is mad
certainly, and had a narrow escape, by a prank of the same nature, as
I hear, at Constantinople.
1 Thomas Lewis of Soberton, Hants. His grandson was the fourth earl.
2 Compare Complete Peerage, vi. 107. The above extract suggests that
the marriage took place 23 March, 173!, not (as there given) 1736.
3 See Complete Peerage, i. 227.
RICHARD BKINSI.UY SHERIDAN.
By Sir Josliiai Reynolds.
FAMILY HISTORY 15
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
1768, 7 Feb. Sir Rob[er]t Rich has died worth a hundred
thousand. Lady Rich has 1,000 jointure ; Lady Lyttleton 1 500 for
life, so now she has 1,300 to play at flatts with ; Miss Rich the in-
terest of 10,000 for her life ; and he settles 50,000 on Lord L lawar,
in default of issue of his son. Everybody inquires if Menil a is to be
a Peer ; he looks, I think, so happy and Peerish, that I suspect there
is something in it ; it will not be well digested.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
1768, 26 Feb. Chetwynd's father has been dying this week, but
has a respite. No Peers will be made as yet, I believe. Menil talks
to his friends sanguinely, but I think he may be disappointed. The
K[ing] is grown very averse to promotions of that kind ; it is high
time to be a little chaste upon that point. In Ireland it is infamous,
and the more so, because that Riff Raff, with titles resembling our
own, desires to be confounded with the nobility of this country, and
very often are so. 3 It must be such a herald as myself to distinguish
between an Earl of Carlisle and an Earl of Catherlough,* the son of a
Transport.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1774], 30 July. I have demonstrated to Sir G. Metham that I
[am] originally a Yorkshire man, and that my name is Salveyne ; and
he says that the best Yorkshire blood does at this time run through
my veins, and so I hope it will for some time before the circulation of
it is stopped.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1775], 7 Oct., Saturday night. I returned from Luggershall
yesterday, a day later than I was in hopes to have come, for I was
made to believe that the Court Leet, which was my object in going,
would have been held on Wednesday ; however I passed a day extra-
ordinary better than I expected in that beggarly place. I made an
acquaintance with a neighbouring gentleman, who has a very good
estate, and a delightful old mansion, where I played at whist and
supped on Wednesday evening. He is a descendant of the Speaker
Smith, and son of that Mr. Ashton whom we saw at Trentham, or
1 Elizabeth daughter of Sir Robert Rich.
a Ancestor of the family of Meynell-Ingram.
3 This is an interesting reference to an old grievance of the English
nobility, Irish peerage dignities being bestowed on Englishmen who could
not obtain English ones.
4 Robert Knight, M.P. of Warwickshire, was created Earl of Catherlough
[Carlow] in 1763.
1 6 THE ANCESTOR
whom I saw there the first time I went, and who was an evidence
against me at Oxford thirty years ago a sad rascal ; but the son is
un garfonfort honnete, and he received me with extraordinary marks ot
civility and good breeding. 1
We have the same relations, and his house was furnished with
many of their pictures. There was one of a great grandmother of
mine, who was the Speaker's sister, painted by Sir P. Lely, that was
one of the best portraits I ever saw. I wish Sir J. Reynolds had been
there to have told me why those colours were so fine and looked as if
they were not dry, while all his are as lamb (sic) black in comparison
of them. I am to have a copy of this picture next spring.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1775], ii Oct. They now doubt of Southwell's peerage, 2 after
all the bustle in our country. All the claimants for new peerages
oppose it with their clamours, as if this was a creation, and taking it
for granted that the King is to accept their interpretations instead ot
his own. I suppose, if he fulfilled all his engagements upon that score,
there would be an addition to the House of Lords equal to the present
number.
Ergo, if I was King, I should expunge the whole debt, and begin
sur nouveaux fraix. I think that I should have answer ready to make
to my Minister against those promises. I should tell him, if my
affairs required a Sir G. Hawke 3 or who[m] you please to be made a
peer, it should be down [done] sur le champ, but I would not be ham-
pered by engagements. G^u'en pensez-vous, Seigneur ?
ANTHONY STORER TO LORD CARLISLE
1781, 1 8 June. Gibbon is to come into Parliament for Lyming-
ton in the room of Mr. Dummer, who is dead ; he left nothing to
either of the Pentons, who are his nearest relations, but has left all his
state 4 to Ned Chamberlayne, who acted for him as his steward.
1 This needs annotation. The ' mansion ' was at Tidworth, which,
though adjoining Ludgershall (Wilts), is on the border of Wilts and Hants.
Its owner was Mr. Thomas Assheton-Smith, then some twenty-three years old,
whose father, Thomas Assheton, matriculated at Brasenose in 1742 (as son of
Thomas Assheton of Bowden), being then sixteen (Foster's Alumni Oxonienses),
and had assumed the additional name and arms of Smith, on succeeding to
the estates of his maternal grandfather, John Smith, Speaker of the House of
Commons, temp. Queen Anne. Hence the well-known family of Assheton-
Smith of Vaynol.
2 Edward Southwell was summoned as Lord de Clifford 17 April, 1776,
the abeyance of the barony being determined in his favour.
3 Admiral Sir Edward Hawke was created a baron 20 May 1776.
4 The estates, valued at 18,000 a year, were left for life to his widow,
who married Dance the painter.
THOMAS SHERIDAN.
SON OF RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.
By Gainsborough.
FAMILY HISTORY 17
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1781, June ?]. Lord Portmore's goods are all seized, and a great
deal of fine old china and other things belonging to my Lady Dor-
chester, and which probably the King had given her, will be sold next
week at his house in Upper Grosvenor Street. 1 I was in hopes that
that old rake and jockey had contrived more comfort for the remainder
of his life. He must be near four score.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1781], 7 Oct. [Nov. ?]. A new character is coming on the
stage, and a new point of discussion for the lawyers, for our big wigs,
for their Lordships. It is one whose name I have not in my head at
this moment, an attorney, the son of a baker in Kent. He now calls
himself Earl of Leicester, of the name of Sydney, the legal son of the
last Earl of Leicester, who died in 1743. He is the undoubted son
of that Earl of Leicester's wife. It is as little to be doubted that he is
the son of the baker with whom she cohabited for some time. His
father, whether par un esprit tfequite, ou de prudence, ou par je ne sfai
quelle raison, prohibited his son in his lifetime from offering such claims
as he now sets forth. Lord and Lady Leicester did not cohabit to-
gether for some time, but were not only within the four seas, but in
the same county, never parted by any legal or formal act whatsoever.
What prevents this claimant from being the legal heir to the late Lord
Leicester of the House of Sydney, his estate, titles, etc. ? I shall be
able I suppose in a short time to tell you more of this story. I heard
it yesterday only from my nephew Charles, who dined here. I wish
that I had known of it the day before ; it may be that Lord Lough-
borough might have said something of the case. Voila du fil a retordre.
Sir G. Young had the estate, by what title I know not. He conveyed
it away ; neither that [n]or the purchase money remains with him.
Mrs. Perry, one of the coheiresses of that family, who now has Pens-
hurst, loses her pretensions to it. All Sir Ashton Lever's fowls and
beasts must go out of his ark at Leicester House. C'est une etrange
historic, et remplie de difficultes et ffembarras de toute espece?
1 ' Beau Colyear' was grandson and successor (1730-85) to the first Earl
of Portmore, who married Lady Dorchester, the mistress of James II., * and
had by her a good estate.'
2 The above extract adds to the information on this episode in Complete
Peerage, v. 50, where Banks is cited for the facts. The question was raised,
according to him, under a writ of right sued out by the claimant as * Earl of
Leicester' leading to a trial at bar, II February 1782, for Penshurst place,
etc. The claimant is alleged to have failed on legal grounds other than those
of his legitimacy, which is said not to have been contested.
This case must be carefully distinguished from that of the * Earl of Leices-
ter ' of forty years later, who assumed that title, oddly enough, under similar
1 8 THE ANCESTOR
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1781], 4 Dec. The Duke of Newcastle's] youngest son is at
Lisbon for his health, and not likely to live. 1 What is become, or
will become, of his eldest God knows. His Grace's pride has settled
everything upon Sir H[enry] Clinton, for the sake of the name, and
Oatlands is to be sold and no vestiges left, or to be left, of his infinite
obligations either to Lord Torrington or to the Pelhams. He is
2OO,OOO/. in debt, and will, if Lord Lincoln marries, of which no-
body doubts, have probably 6,ooo/. a year to pay in jointures to Lady
Harrington, and Lady Hertford's daughters, and when this and the
usual charge upon the maintenance of great nouses is defrayed, he will
leave nothing to Sir Henry but the expense of his own monument.
He is a complete wretch, and no one ever deserved more to be so.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1782], 29 Jan. I have paid for more claret drank in this house
since I came into it, than I did in my last for the twenty years which
I inhabited it, or which had been drank in this for the fifty years that
it has been built. My father, and grandfather, were served, and eat
upon plate, but it was not godronned ; and they drank port, and
burned tallow candles, except when company dined with them, which
made the old Duke of Newcastle say one night to my father, ' Dear
John,' as he called him, ' if you will burn tallow, pray snuff your
candles.' Times are more changed than I thought that they would be
in fifty years after my decease.
[GEORGE SELWYN TO LORD CARLISLE]
[1782], 7 Feb. Lord Falmouth is dead ; he has left his widow
i, 600 a year jointure ; his three bastards have 30,OOO/., that is ten
each, and the eldest, in the House of Commons, all the purchases
which he made as an addition to the family estate ; and this he has
left to the heir-at-law and inheritor of his title. Old Mrs. Howard,
Sir George's 2 mother, is dead also, and Lord Seaforth, and as is sup-
posed without a Will ; if so, Lady C. M'Kensie 3 will have for her
portion 3O,ooo/.
circumstances, as the putative son of Lord Townshend, of whose wife and in
whose lifetime he was born (see Complete Peerage, vii. 418).
To the list of such cases in the Peerage given in Complete Peerage, i. 211,
may now be added that of Poulett, which has further defined the law on the
subject.
1 He (Lord John Pelham Clinton) died this year, leaving only his elder
brother, Lord Lincoln, to carry on the succession to the dukedom. Failing
him the earldom of Lincoln would have devolved on General Sir Henry
Clinton. But he married next year.
2 Gen. Sir George Howard, K.B., Governor of Chelsea Hospital.
3 Lady Caroline, his daughter. She married Lewis Drummond, Comte de
Melfort.
CHARLES KINNAIRD SHERIDAN, IN THE SUIT OF ARMOUR HE WORE
AT THE EGLINTON TOURNAMENT.
Artist nA->iini>ti.
FAMILY HISTORY 19
[GEORGE SELYWN] TO LADV CARLISLE
[1789, Nov. ?] 9. Mr. Hamilton, now Lord Abercorn, 1 but tou-
jours magnifico^ will have one of his cousins a Lady, as if she had been
an Earl's daughter, and no other of her sisters. 2 He will himself be
Due de Chatelleraut, to which I know that he has no more pretensions
than I should have to an estate that an ancestor of mine had sold a
century ago.
1 He succeeded his uncle as ninth earl.
a See note on this in Complete Peerage, i. 4.
20 THE ANCESTOR
BLOHIN : HIS DESCENDANTS AND LANDS
OO many points of interest are suggested
*v Jr r* k3 by tne Domesday tenant Blohin, who at
^- ^-* ** the time of the Survey held in Cornwall,
under Earl Mortain, the manors of Deliau,
Trefrioc, Duvenant, Treveheret, along with
the manor of Treiwal which the earl had
taken from the church of St. Michael
(St. Michael's Mount), that a brief state-
ment of them may not be out of place here. Among the
Cornish tenants Blohin shares with Rainald (de Valletort) the
rare distinction of being easily identified as the ancestor of a
family which for several centuries occupied a prominent posi-
tion in the county. His descendants in the female line are
still with us.
The Exchequer Domesday gives the name as BLOHIN. It
would doubtless have supplied material for a dissertation on
the inaccuracies of transcribers if the cursive characters had
been used in that record, for in subsequent history the name
appears variously as Blohiu, Bloyo and Bloyowe. 1 How the
final consonant came to be lost there is no need to inquire.
The use of capital letters in Domesday is decisive as to its
existence in 1086 : the following account will establish, it is
believed, beyond a doubt the identity of Blohin and Bloyowe.
Nothing is more difficult than to identify some of the
Domesday manors. One very fruitful method is here sug-
gested, viz. to keep constantly in mind their original grouping
under the several tenants ; to treat them singly or etymologi-
cally only leads to confusion. This has been done with
disastrous results, as will presently be shown, in the case of
Blohin's manors.
Blohin's manors were Deliau, Trefrioc, Duvenant, Treve-
heret and Treiwal. If we turn to the Feudal Aids we find that
in 1303 Alan Blogiou (Bloyou) held two of Mortain's fees in
Treuual in the hundred of Penwith and two fees in Polrode
1 Patent Rolls, 12 Edw. HI. and Close Rolls, 12 Edw. II.
JANE GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF SOMERSET.
From a painting !<y Frank Stout.
BLOHIN 21
and Donnant (Duvenant) in the hundred of Trigg, while
Henry Cavel and Robert le Brun held a fee each, as of Polrode,
in Delionir and Delioubol respectively. There is no mention
of Treveheret or Trefrioc. In 1306 the assessment of the
aid states that John Moveron and Henry Trethewy held Alan
Bloyou's manor of Treuial, while Alice Carminow (Alan
Bloyou's granddaughter) was liable for an aid of ^4 in respect
of the manors of Polrode and Donnant. Cavell and Brune
retained Delionnir and Delioubol. There is still no mention
of Treveheret and Trefrioc. In 1428 Lady Haryngton held
half a fee in Treuialle in Pen with, the other half fee being in
severalties too small to be assessable. Polrode and Donnant
were also divided amongst seventeen different persons and
returned nothing. Treveheret and Trefrioc are still absent
from the roll. The problem is to discover what has become
of them. It is certainly remarkable that Sir John Maclean,
who discussed both Trefrioc or Trefreak and Polrode at great
length in his History of Trigg Minor, and who had ample data
in his possession to have enabled him to overcome the difficulty,
should have failed to discover Treveheret. He had even a
terrier of the Polrode lands before him, and was familiar with
every homestead in Trigg, and yet he blundered hopelessly.
Treating of the manor of Trehudreth in Blisland parish, after
stating that this manor is found in Domesday under the name
of Trewderet, held by Alnod, he proceeds : * In 8 John,
Hugh de St. Philibert granted to Roger de St. Philibert and
his heirs the moiety of a fourth part of a knight's fee in
Trevidered ; and Alanus de Bloyou died 31 Edw. I. seised of
a twelfth part of a fee in Trewythered.' 1 His inconsistency
lies in this, that having rightly or wrongly identified Trehud-
reth with Alnod's manor of Trewderet, he should have brought
in a totally different manor, viz. Blohin's manor of Treveheret
to illustrate its subsequent history ! He would seem to have
been in much the same plight as that familiar friend of our
childhood who had lost his sheep and did not know where to
find them. The terrier of Polrode, which he was careful to
print, 2 would have solved the difficulty if he had studied it.
For that terrier gives, as consecutive items, Trefreak and Tre-
wetherd as members of the manor of Polrode? They appear to
1 Trigg Minor, \. 43. * Ibid. iii. 336.
3 It is very provoking to find Sir John Maclean speaki._~ of Polrode as
having been taken from St. Michael and given to the earl (Mortain). Both
22 THE ANCESTOR
have been absorbed at some time between 1086 and 1303 into
Polrode. Not that they were lost sight of altogether. In
1309, when there was an assignment of dower to Joan the
widow of Alan Bloihou, we find 1 that she had inter alia a
knight's fee in Delyamur and Neivalle (Deliomure and New-
hall), a knight's fee in Donaunt Chapel and one twelfth of a
knight's fee in Trewytbred. Both Trefreak and Trewythred (or
Trewethert) were situated in Endellim parish, where there are
still farmhouses bearing those names. As illustrating the
futility of mere guesswork and similarity of spelling, it is
worth while to observe that the Rev. John Carne, who at-
tempted to construct a complete list of Domesday identifica-
tions for Cornwall, 2 suggested Treverres in St. Just-in-Rose-
land as the equivalent of Treveheret !
With regard to the manor of Treiwal (Treuthal, Exeter
Domesday), Mr. Carne was more fortunate, although Lysons,
from whom he seems to have borrowed many of his sugges-
tions, was silent upon the subject. Treiwel is Truth wall, and
includes portions of St. Hilary and Ludgvan parishes. The
modern village of Truthwall is wholly in Ludgvan, in which
parish I think there can be little doubt the manor house of the
Bloyous was situated. The assignment of dower above
referred to mentions Trenorwin (Trenowin), Rospegh (Ros-
peath), both in Ludgvan and Trevabon (Trevabyn) in St.
Hilary. These were members of the manor of Treiwal. The
advowson of Ludgvan was also vested in the Bloyous. That
they had a mansion in the neighbourhood is certain, for in
1335 Ralph Bloiou had a licence to crenellate his dwelling
place at Tregewell. 3 Of this mansion there are now no traces,
but if it be true, as is stated by Dr. Borlase, that there was
formerly a chapel at Trewell, where Wheal Fortune now is,
it would most likely be there. On the other hand it is only
right to state that the grant of a market weekly to Ralph
the Exeter and Exchequer Domesdays state that the earl held Polrode of St.
Petrock. The present writer considers that he ought to add that while he
has discovered here and there similar blemishes in it, he yields to no one in
his admiration of the diligence and ability which characterize Sir John's
great work. It was in the History of Trigg Minor that the writer first caught
a glimpse of the possibilities which are both the inspiration and the reward of
a critical study of records.
1 Close Rolls, 2 Edw. II. p. 143. 2 Journal of R.J.C, i. 53.
3 Patent Rolls, 9 Edw. III.
A MOTLEY FAMILY FOR i RAIT.
BLOHIN 23
Bloyhou and his heirs * at their manor of Marghasyn (Marao-
zion, then in St. Hilary) and freewarren in all the demesne
lands of the said manor of Treueil * x points rather to St.
Hilary as the seat of the manor.
Having now traced the manors of Blohin from the Domes-
day Survey to the beginning of the fourteenth century, it will
be convenient before dealing with the history of the family to
indicate the successive steps whereby they were alienated.
Ralph Bloihou son of Alan, whose widow was assigned dower
in 1309, was the last male representative of the family. He
left no issue, and his two sisters Elizabeth and Joan 2 became
his coheiresses. The elder sister married first Sir Stephen
Tinten and afterwards Ralph Beaupre. In 28 Edw. III. the
advowson of Ludgvan and the manors of Tregewal (Truth-
wall) and Nayscoyk this latter had doubtless been acquired by
the marriage of Alan Bloyhou to Johanna daughter of Sir
Peter Nanscoyk were demised by fine 3 by Robert de Loc-
combe and Ralph Mayndy, the proctors or trustees of Eliza-
beth, to Nigel Loryng, chivaler, and Margaret his wife. That
this fine operated as a real transfer is evident from the Plea
Rolls, 4 for in 12 Henry VI. (1434) John Broughten, armiger,
sued Thomas Carmynowe, armiger, and Edmund Kendall,
clerk, for the next presentation to Ludgvan, stating that Eliza-
beth daughter of Alan Bloyou, at that time the wife of Ralph
Beaupelle, enfeoffed Nigel Loryng in 28 Edw. III. John
Broughton claimed as the representative of Nigel Loryng, and
appears to have won his case, the defendants eventually with-
drawing from the suit. The Lady Haryngton referred to
above, who paid an aid for Treival in 1428, was also a descend-
ant of Nigel Loryng, but she had apparently no descendants
living in 1434.
Elizabeth Bloyou left a daughter Alice, who married Sir
Walter Carminow, to whom she carried Polrode. Sir Walter
1 Charter Rolls, 5 Edw. III.
2 Of Joan's marriage and descendants I have not been able to obtain par-
ticulars. Maclean makes her the mother of Margery who married Simon
Berkely. If this be so, and if his pedigree can be relied on, Joan Bloyhou's
descendants came to an end in 1426, when John Cheynduit died s.p.
3 Feet of Fines, 28 Edw. III.
4 Genealogist, xvii. 245. According to Vivian, Vis. oj Devon, p. 101, and
also Vis. of Beds (Harl. Soc. xxxii. 33), Margaret was the daughter of Ralph
Beauple and Elizabeth his wife. The pleadinga are silent however on this
point.
24 THE ANCESTOR
Carminow's descendant, Jane Carminow, married Thomas Lord
Carew, whose son Sir Edmund Carew alienated the manor to
John Skewys in the latter years of the reign of King Henry
VIII. With Polrode went Treveheret and Donnant, and so,
after the lapse of five centuries and a half, the lands granted by
the Conqueror to Blohin were finally lost to his family. It is,
however, a curious and interesting coincidence that a descend-
ant of Blohin, the Rev. A. T. Boscawen, in virtue of his office
as rector of Ludgvan, should still find in Treiwal and its
people his chief source of interest, and in the improvement of
land and the cultivation of flowers at Ludgvan an unfailing
source of pleasure.
The materials at command do not enable us to construct a
pedigree of Bloyou reaching back to the Domesday ancestor.
Alan Bloyhou, living 1186
Henry, d.s.p. Ralph, died 1241
Alan
Ralph
Alan, died 1305
|
Sir Ralph, d.s.p. Elizabeth = Sir Stephen Johanna
Tinten
Alice = Sir Walter Curminow
I
Sir William
I Jj
Thomas Walter
Jane = Sir Thomas, Lord Carew John
1 I
*^ Nicholas
From whom the Pole-Carews
and Prideaux-Brunes Philippe = Hugh Boscawen
Whether any of the missing links will be discovered in the
documents preserved in this country or in France it is
impossible to say. The close connection however which sub-
sisted between the Bloyous and St. Michael's Mount and
between the latter place and Mont St. Michel is worth bearing
in mind when a final examination comes to be made. Mr.
BLOHIN 2$
Round's * Notes on Anglo-Norman Genealogy' 1 is very sugges-
tive of what may be achieved in that direction. The authentic
history of the family, as it stands at present, begins with Alan
Blohihoie, who held seven fees in Cornwall in the year 1187.*
He was succeeded by his son and heir Henry Bloyou, who on
his father's death paid relief for the seven fees in 1204. Henry
Bloyou left no issue. Upon his death his brother Ralph gave
sixty marks and a palfrey to have the seven fees. Ralph
Bloyou died in 1241 3 leaving a son and heir, Alan, who
married the eldest daughter of Henry de Bodrugan. This
marriage involved an inquiry. Henry de Bodrugan was
summoned before the king to show wherefore he had given
his eldest daughter in marriage to the son and heir of Ralph
Bloyou, of whom he was guardian, the marriage in question
being claimed as the right of the Earl of Cornwall. His plea
was that Ralph Bloyou had given his consent to their betrothal
before his death. An undated charter summarized in the
Catalogue of Ancient Deeds * gives the confirmation
by Alan Bloyou lord of Treyudwal, to William de Brevannek of the release
made by Sir Ralph Bloyou his father to Robert de Brevannek son of Clarice,,
in frank marriage with Rose, Ralph's niece (rtepte), of the service Robert and
his ancestors used to do to Ralph and his ancestors for their tenement in Bre-
vannek and Penmeneth, to hold to the said Robert and his heirs by the said
Rose by payment of 1 2</. yearly to the said Ralph at Michaelmas for all
service ; also grant that the said William, his heirs and assigns, should not be
required to do suit of court outside the manor of Treruwal, nor should their
beasts, or distresses, be carried outside the said manor of Tregewal.
From the numerous references to Brevannek and Penmeneth
in the same catalogue, it appears that these places were in the
neighbourhood of Truthwall. The exact locality is not known.
Alan Bloyou was succeeded by Ralph Bloyou, 5 who, on the
death of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall (28 Edw. I.), was found
holding six fees in Polrode. Two years later (1302) he had
the king's pardon 6 for robbery and other trespasses committed
against Henry de Bodrugan 7 at Glasney. It is rather signifi-
1 Genealogist, xvii. i. 2 Pipe Roll, 33 Henry II.
3 Coram Rege Roll, 25 Henry III.
* A 10348.
5 Sir John Maclean makes him the son of Alan and gives his brothers
Master William, Richard and Michael.
8 Patent Rolls, 30 Edw. I.
7 This would be Henry Bodrugan, son of Henry his cousin-german.
26 THE ANCESTOR
cant however that the commission touching the assault on
Bodrugan should have been renewed within a fortnight of
Bloyou's pardon, and that the latter's death followed within a few
months. That he died in the same or in the following year is
clear, for the Feudal Aid of 1303 assesses Alan his son for the
fees in Treuual, Polrode and Donnant. The words * in cus-
todia regis ' in the margin probably call attention to the fact
that at the time of the assessment Alan had not obtained
seisin.-' Alan Bloyou died in 1305,* leaving a son Ralph, who
was a minor at the time of his father's death. The custody of
his lands was committed to Henry Beaurepeir, 2 a yeoman of
Queen Margaret, and the presentation of a clerk to Ludgvan
was made by the king by reason of Alan's minority in 1312.*
Three years later the king granted that Henry Beaurepeir and
John de Stoure, to whom the former had demised the custody
of Alan's lands, should not be harassed for waste. 4 In 1319
an order was made to the escheator to cause Ralph de Bloyhow
son and heir of Alan de Bloyhow, tenant in chief of the late
king, to have seisin of his father's lands, as f he had proved his
age and done homage.' This Ralph Bloyou was the last
tenant in chief of the name. His career, as sketched out in
the Patent Rolls, is that of one who not only occupied a lead-
ing position in the county of Cornwall, but who executed his
various public offices with uncommon zeal. In 1333 he was
made a justice of oyer and terminer. Two years later he was
in the commission of the peace, crenellated his mansion and
obtained the custody of William Basset's lands. Some years
previously he had been given the command of the fortlet of
St. Michael's Mount, for in 1338 a mandate was issued to him
to deliver up the same to Reynold de Boterels and John
Hamley, the sheriff of Cornwall. The same year he was ap-
pointed a commissioner of array and, for the third time, a
justice of oyer and terminer. This last commission was
attended with unfortunate results. At Glyn, 6 on his way to
Lostwithiel, he and his servants were assaulted by the rabble
amongst whom appear however two men of knightly race, John
and Henry Lercedekne who carried away his goods and pre-
vented him from executing his office. Ralph Bloyou's death
took place soon afterwards, for we find his relict Margery
1 Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. I.
2 Patent Rolls, 34 Edw. I. 3 Ibid. 5 Edw. II.
4 Ibid. 8 Edw. II. 6 Ibid. 12 Edw. III.
BLOHIN 27
named in an assize roll of 15 Edw. III. (1341-2). From his
sister Elizabeth, through Thomas Carminow her great-grandson,
are descended the Pole-Carews and Prideaux-Brunes, and
through Walter Carminow, the brother of Thomas, the
Boscawens. 1
THOMAS TAYLOR.
1 As illustrating the great value of the Plea Rolls for genealogical purposes,
it may be allowable to point out that the suit respecting the next presentation
to Ludgvan (12 Henry VI.) supplies no less than five generations of pedigree,
beginning with Alan Bloyou who died in 1305 (see Genea/ogisf, xvii. 245).
Genealogists owe a large debt of gratitude to General Wrottesley for the
invaluable series of Plea Rolls which he has for so many years contributed to
that excellent publication. ED.
28 THE ANCESTOR
A SALISBURY FIFTEENTH CENTURY
DEATH REGISTER
IN the muniment room of Salisbury Cathedral there is a
collection of Registers, or Act Books as they are called,
forming an almost complete series from the early part of the
thirteenth century to the present time. These Act Books
contain the formal records of the Acts of the Dean and Chap-
ter, and a great part of the contents is very much alike in all
of them, and consists of records of admissions of canons, pre-
sentations to benefices, episcopal visitations of the cathedral,
and matters concerning the management of the capitular es-
tates and the correction of vicars choral, (for centuries the
vicars choral seem to have been in a chronic state of insubor-
dination and misbehaviour,) and such like things. Each book
is named after the chapter clerk who wrote it, and each chapter
clerk while conforming to the general type has usually in some
way managed to impress his individuality upon the book
called by his name by the insertion of particular matters in
which he took interest or which he thought worthy of mention
although not such as it was his duty to record.
One of the most interesting of the volumes is that kept
in the middle of the latter half of the fifteenth century by
* Johannes Machon clericus Wigornensis dioceseos publicus
Apostolica et Imperiali auctoritatibus notarius.'
Every notary in recording his official acts used a special
device as his ' signum.' John Machon made use of the two
* signa ' shown below, reserving the glories of the more elabo-
rate device for the attestation of the more important docu-
ments.
John Machon's particular fancy was for recording proces-
sions and grand ceremonies, and also for giving personal par-
ticulars, and it was this latter turn of mind that led him to
anticipate Cromwell's order for keeping parish registers by
about seventy years, and to keep a register of the deaths of
persons connected with Salisbury Cathedral that occurred be-
tween the years 1467 and 1475. ^ n man y cases tne w^ 8 are
A SALISBURY DEATH REGISTER 29
set out in full, and in some cases the epitaphs (all now perished)
and the places of burial of those whose deaths are recorded.
In the following transcript of Machon's register I have
translated most of the original Latin and abridged the formal
parts of the probates, etc. ; the epitaphs are given verbatim :
De Testamentis Rubrica et probacionibus testamentorum
Anno domini Millesimo Quadringentesimo Sexagesimo Octauo.
In the name of God Amen in the year 1467 on the 22nd day of the month of
March I Robert Cothe Chaplain being of sound mind, (praise to the Most High,)
yet fearing death to be near, make my will as follows. First I bequeath my soul
to almighty God the blessed Mary and all his saints, and my body to be de-
cently buried with lights the tolling of bells and other things usual before the
image of the blessed Virgin Mary adjoining and over the Western doors of the
Cathedral Church of Salisbury. And I direct that every Canon Residentiary
present at my funeral and at mass shall have I2d. and every non-residentiary
Sd. Each Vicar and other Chaplains of Chantries in the aforesaid Church who
are not Vicars who shall be present as aforesaid 6d. and each chorister 2d. Item,
after the payment of my funeral expenses and debts I leave (if it can conveniently
be done) 10 marks for a veil for the high altar of the said church. Item, I leave
to the fabric of the parish church of Criddade 2OJ. and I ordain and desire that
my breviary with notes which is in the chapel of Lord Walter Hungreford shall
remain there for the use of the chaplains thereof, my other breviary which was
given to me by Laurence chaplain in the said church I give again and bequeath
to him. Moreover I leave to Thomas Bowyer clerk of the said chapel of Lord
30 THE ANCESTOR
Walter Hungerford one book of grammar. The rest of my goods not before be-
queathed and disposed of I commit in all ways and by all means to the disposal
and discretion of that careful faithful and honest man Master William Crowton
whom I make constitute and appoint the executor of my will. Witnessed by
Master William Cook official of the Dean of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury
and John Hayton the aforesaid Laurence and Thomas Botton Chaplains, Thomas
Bowyer literate and Agnes Baleston of the city of new Salisbury. Dated as above.
Proved in the presence of Richard Whitby Treasurer of the Cathedral
Church of Salisbury Locum tenens of the Dean of Salisbury the I3th July 1468
and Administration Granted to the s d William Crowton, etc .
Epithaphium ipsius domini Roberti tumulati extra valuas occidentales
ecclesie Saresbiriensis sic sculptum.
Orate pro anima domini Roberti Coth qui primo fuit chorista deinde Vicar-
ius huius ecclesie et tandem vnus Capellanorum Walteri domini Hungerford
qui obiit xxii do die Martii anno domini MCCCC sexagesimo septimo, cuius anime
propicietur deus. Amen.
Memorandum that on the 3rd of November 1468 Robert Dier gatekeeper of
the Close of the Canons of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury made his last will
and testament and on the 5th day of the same month vizt. on Saturday the vigil
of St. Leonard died (diem suum clausit extremum) in the said Close. And on
the Monday following his body was buried in the Churchyard before the small
north door of the same church.
The will of Roberti Dyer the above named Gatekeeper of the Close was proved
before the Venerable Master Richard Whitby Bachelor of Canon and Civil Law
Treasurer of the Cathedral and Locum tenens of the Dean (in remotis agentis)
then president of the Chapter on the 8th day of November 1468 and administra-
tion was granted to Edith Smyth and the executors.
Memorandum that John Goldryng sometime Vicar Choral of the Cathedral
Church of Salisbury died within the Close on the l6th day of March A.D. 1468
and was buried within the said church at the end of the nave and the north aisle.
The will of John Goldryng vicar in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury was
proved before Richard Whitby etc. and administration was granted to Martin
the gatekeeper and Robert Lavyngton on the 22nd day of March 1468.
And the said executors besides the other things directed by the testator gave
to the fabric of the said church l$s. \d. for a place of burial in the said church
under a marble stone, and to the use of the said church in the choir one proces-
sional beginning on the second leaf so that it should for ever remain in
the said church for the centinual use of the Vicar of the Dean.
The body of Sir John Cooke sometime vicar and late subtreasurer of the
Cathedral Church of Salisbury lies before the image of the blessed Mary outside
the nave of the same church. He died on the 22nd day of August A.D. 1469.
Memorandum that on the 1 8th day of September in the above mentioned
year the sixth year of the Pontificate or Coronation of our Most Holy Father and
Lord in Christ our Lord the Pope 1 Paul the 2nd begins.
1 Peter Barbo (Paul 2nd) had been Archdeacon of Salisbury. The i6th of
September is generally given as the day of his coronation.
A SALISBURY DEATH REGISTER 31
And on the 24th day of the same month and year the third Indiction begins.
A.D. 1470 begins.
Epitaph of Master Andrew Holes Chancellor of Salisbury.
Sub pede effigiei.
Quamuis putrescam dando me vermibus escam
Rursus came meum credo videre deum.
Ad et circa ymaginem.
Hie iacet corpus magistri Andree Holes decretorum doctor quondam Cancel-
larii et Residenciarii ecclesie Saresbiriensis Archidiaconique Eboracensis et Wel-
lensis . . . qui per Annos plures Procuratoris Regis Anglic in Romana Curia
fungebatur officio et post suum a dicta Curia in Angliam redditum ad custodiam
priuati sigilli Regii assumptus, post exercitium illius officii quasi per triennium
ad residenciam in dicta ecclesia prius tacta reuersus est. Qui obiit Die Primo
mensis Aprilis Anno domini Millesimo cccc m Ln mo . Cuius anima in pace re-
quiescat. Amen.
[From an entry elsewhere in Machon's Register (f. xviii.)
it appears that Andrew Holes died in his house in the Close
called Ledenhalle (it still bears the same name), and was buried
in the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, which was in the
northern bay of the south-east transept of the cathedral. He
was a Wykehamist, and there is a portrait of him in the MS.
'Life of William of Wykeham' at New College, vide Leach's
History of Winchester College, p. 217.]
Testamentum Domini Jo Godryche Capellani
In the name of God Amen. On the 1st day of August 1470 I John
Godryche being of sound mind thus make my will. First |I leave my
soul to Almighty God my Creator and my body to holy burial. Item
I leave to the use of the Church of the blessed Mary of Salisbury 40^.
Item I leave to the Church of Mannynford Browes 6s. Sd. Item I leave
to the house of the Preaching Friars of Fyssherton ior. Item to the house of
the Friars Minors within the City of Salisbury los. Item to Simon Stone
6s. 8d. Item I leave for distribution among the poor and especially among such
of them as appear to be in the greatest need IOO.T. Item I leave to Master John
Goolde my breviary upon this condition, that at or before his death he shall be-
queath it to another priest, and so that it shall be given by way of legacy to one
after another, and so long as it may last shall never be sold nor alienated in any
other way than under special obligation to pray for the soul of Richard Smyth-
ford the first possessor of the same book who left it for such purpose. The rest
of my goods not before bequeathed I give and bequeath to Master John Goolde
to dispose of in such way as may seem to him best and most profitable for the
good of my soul. Dated the day and year above written in the presence of
Thomas Caunt, parish priest in the said Cathedral Church, and Symon Stone
literate, Master Richard Topp LL.B and Thomas Wynne literate, witnesses.
Proved before Richard Whitby etc 17 August 1470. Administration
granted to John Goolde.
32 THE ANCESTOR
Master Thomas Estynton M. A. Canon Residentiary of the Cathedral Church
of Salisbury died on the 3rd of January 1470.
Annus domini Millesimus cccc mus septuagesimus primus Incipit.
Memorandum that on the 1st day of July in the above written year Gregory
Thorneton late of Aldewardbury in the County of Wilts Gentleman having at
the time of his death divers goods in the Close of the Canons of the Cathedral
Church of Salisbury made his will within the City of Salisbury and there died.
The aforesaid will was proved and confirmed before us William Cook the
Official of the Reverend Father James Goldwell Protonotary Apostolic Dean of
the Cathedral Church of Salisbury on Saint Anne's day 1471 and administration
was granted to Elizabeth his relict and executrix.
Peter Seynt John clerk of the Fabric of the Church of Salisbury went the
way of all flesh at one o'clock in the early morning of Friday the and of August
A.D. 1471 at his usual house of residence in the parish of St. Thomas the Martyr
in the City of New Salisbury.
A.D. 1473 on the 9th day of May in the early morning Master William Cook
priest aged about eighty LL.B. Advocate of the Consistory Court of Salisbury
died within the Close of the Canons of the Church of Salisbury, whose body was
buried under a great marble stone adjoining and opposite to the west side of the
holy font of baptism in the nave of the said church on the loth day of the same
month of May.
Richard Southsex priest of the choir of the Church of Salisbury died in the
Close on the 1 5th day of September and the next day was buried in the same
church.
Walter Maschall the senior Altarist of the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr
which stands immediately within the entrance on the north side of the Cathedral
Church of Salisbury, died within the Close of the said Church on the igih of
January in the year A.D. 1473 and his body lies buried near the small north door.
William Fydion sometime Canon Residentiary of the Cathedral Church of
Salisbury and Prebendary of the Prebend of Chesingbury and Churte in the
same church died overburdened with debt (alieno ere nimis pregrauatus) on the
24th day of January in his accustomed house of residence within the Close of the
said Cathedral and on the z6th day of the same month was buried in the said
Church.
[William Fydion lived in the house at the extreme north-
west angle of the Close, succeeding therein Nicholas Upton
the precentor and heraldic writer who built the house. Fyd-
ion's name is still to be seen carved in relief on a stone cor-
nice in the house ; the stones have been misplaced, so that it
now appears as ION W FID. It was the custom at Salis-
bury that when a canonical house became vacant for the
A SALISBURY DEATH REGISTER 33
Canons Residentiary in order of seniority to have the option
of removing to it. Upon Fydion's death Richard Whitby
announced his intention of taking his house. On the next
day, 5 February, there was a meeting of the chapter to decide
who should have Whitby's house. Among the canons was
one William Nessingwike, the sub-dean, a quarrelsome man
of not very good character. When the canons met * Adstatim
erexit se M. Willelmus Nessingwike,' and demanded that
Richard Whitby should be ordered to restore to their places
the young trees which he and his servants had secretly the
night before dug up and removed from the orchard of his
late house to that of the one in which he was going to live.
An order for the re-transplantation of the * arbores iuvenes '
was made, and thereupon Whitby's house was taken by Nes-
singwike, * ea vice contentus,' as John Machon notes. As all
this took place early in February it is not unlikely that the
* arbores iuvenes' suffered, but Nessingwike for once was
satisfied.]
Memorandum that on the feast of St. Agatha the 5th day of February A.D.
1473 early in the morning Dominus Willelmus Symmes Chaplain of the parish
church of Homyngton in the diocese of Salisbury died (e medio sublatus est) in
the vicarage there.
Testamentum Eiusdem.
In the name of God Amen On the 5th day of January 1473 I William Symmys
Chaplain of the parish church of Homyngton in the diocese of Salisbury being
of perfect memory and sound in mind although sick in body thus make my will.
First I leave my soul to Almighty God my Creator the blessed Mary and all his
saints and my body to be buried in the aforesaid church of Homyngton before
the crucifix there. Item I leave to the fabric of the Cathedral Church of Salis-
bury 6s. Sd. Item to the church of Homyngton one pair of vestments. Item
to the parish church of Nethenewton 2od. Item to the Friars minors of Salis-
bury 3/. ^d. Item to the preaching Friars of Fisherton y. 4^. Item to each
married man and woman of my parish 4^. Item to each unmarried man and
woman 2d. Item to each child of my parish id. Item to each of my godsons
6s. 8d. Item to William Ranedolf for prayers for my soul and the souls of my
parents 6s. 8d. Item to Edward Symmes my kinsman I mark together with six
silver spoons and three bowls two basins and four candlesticks of laton. Item I
leave for the repair of the king's highway adjoining Homyngton bridge 3*. ^d.
Item to John Hibard my patron 2os. Item to William the Prior of Mayden-
bradley my godson 4OJ., of which he is to give I2d. to each canon of his priory
for prayers for my soul and for the souls of all the faithful departed. Item I
leave to the church of Homyngton one cow for the supply and annual renewal
of the paschal wax. The rest of all my goods not before bequeathed, after the
payment of my debts and legacies, I wish to be distributed among the poor that
are most in want, and bedridden, and for other pious uses for the good of my
soul and those of my parents, and for the souls of those for whom I am in duty
34 THE ANCESTOR
bound to pray, and for the souls of all the faithful departed, at the discretion of
my executors, whom I here nominate create ordain make and constitute vizt.
John Granger and William Hyll Dated at Homyngton aforesaid the day and year
above written.
Proved before Thomas Hawkyns Precentor and William Nessingwike canons
Residentiary of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury etc.
Annus domini millesimus cccc mus bcx mus Quartus Incipit.
On the i6th of May in the year last above written, that is on the Monday next
before Ascension Day, Thomas Yong one of the Vicars Choral died in the Close
of the Canons of the Cathedral of the Blessed Mary of Salisbury, and on the
following day his body was buried in the burial ground of the same church
before the east side of the Cross therein commonly called Saint Thomas of Can-
terbury's Cross.
Memorandum that on the 27th of July in the year 1474 within the Close of
the Canons of the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Mary of Salisbury Master
John Cranburn, priest LL.B and Canon Residentiary of Salisbury Cathedral and
Prebendary of the Prebend of Husseborn and Burbach in the same, died in his
usual house of residence there, and on Friday the 2Qth day of the same month
his body was buried in the nave of the aforesaid Cathedral.
William Stapull one of the Vicars Choral of the said Cathedral died on the
24th day of September in the above named year in his usual dwelling house
within the said Close, and his body is buried in the said Church before the gate
of the Chapel of St. Margaret. ^ |
Richard White one of the two chaplains of the perpetual chantry for the soul
of Robert Godmanston founded in the parish Church of St. Thomas the Martyr
in the City of New Salisbury went the way of all flesh, in his accustomed dwelling
house adjoining the churchyard there, on the loth day of November in the above
named year, and afterwards his body was buried in the said parish church.
Tenor Testamenti ipsius domini Ricardi Whyte
Capellani Cantarie Robert! Godmanston.
In the name of God Amen On the 1 14th day of November A.D. 1474 1 Richard
Whyte one of the Chaunters of the Chantry of Robert Godmanston founded in
the parish church of St. Thomas the Martyr Salisbury being of sound mind and
good memory thus make my will. First I leave my soul to almighty God the
blessed Mary and all the saints, and my body to be buried in the aforesaid church
of St. Thomas before the altar of St. Bartholomew, and to be there covered with
a marble stone. Item I leave to the fabric of Salisbury Cathedral izd. Item
I leave to the fabric of the aforesaid church of St. Thomas 2Os. Item I leave to
every priest present at my funeral 6d. Item I leave to the fabric of the church
of St. Martin 6d. Item I leave to each of my godsons I2d. Item I leave to the
Master of Saint Nicholas and the community of the said college 6s. Sd. Item I
desire that upon the day of my burial 2or. may be distributed among Christ's
1 The date of the will is four days after the death of the testator. October
should probably be substituted for November.
A SALISBURY DEATH REGISTER 35
poor. Item I leave to John Bodington and his wife one cup called Home orna-
mented with silver and gold. Item I leave to Maurice Cutteler 6s. Sd. Item
I leave to William my boy and servant one bed with its furniture and my small
breviary. The rest of my goods not before bequeathed I give and bequeath to
William Shirwode and Richard Charite, that they may thereout faithfully make
order and disposition for the good of my soul as shall seem to them best, and I
make and constitute them my true and lawful executors, and John Chaphyn
supervisor of this present will. And for the execution of my will and the trouble
of my executors and supervisor aforesaid I bequeath to each of my executors 40;.
and to the aforesaid supervisor 2os.
Proved before William Nessingwik B.C.L. Canon Residentiary and subdean
of the Cathedral of the blessed Mary of Salisbury etc. 1 7th of November 1474.
Memorandum that upon the day of the feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord
Jesus Christ the first day of the month of January, being Sunday, in the year of
Our Lord Jesus aforesaid 1474 the 4th year and 8th Indiction of our most Holy
Pontiff Father in Christ and Lord Sixtus the 4th, by divine providence Pope,
the singular good master John Stretton LL.D. Canon Residentiary of the afore-
said Cathedral of Salisbury and Prebendary of the Prebend of Chesingbury and
Chuet in the same, made his will written throughout by my hand at his request
and signed with his own hand with full and sound knowledge and mind in the
presence of me and many other credible witnesses, and read through to him then
and there in the morning of the same day. Teste me Jo Machon notario publico
prefato. And on the 8th day of the same month etc. as last above mentioned
in the same place died in the Catholic faith.
A. R. MALDEN.
THE ANCESTOR
A GENEALOGIST'S KALENDAR OF
CHANCERY SUITS OF THE TIME OF
CHARLES I. 1
FINCHAM v. BEDINGFIELD
Bill (12 July 1644) of Richard Fincham of the Inner Temple, esquire,
complainant, against Robert Bedingfeild, D.D., and Anne his wife.
One Winckfeild Thirsbye of Aswicken in Norfolk, esquire, being the
complainant's kinsman and friend formerly propounded one Anne
Thirsbye, daughter of Edmund Thirsbye of Aswicken, esquire, to the
complainant for a wife. Edmund Thirsbye declared that he could not
pay the l,ooo/. portion of the said Anne during the life of his fatherjThomas
Thirsbye, esquire, and the proposed marriage was broken off. Anne is
now wife to the defendant Robert Bedingfeild of Newton in the Isle
of Ely, D.D., and the complainant asks that a diamond ring and pearl
bracelet may be restored to him.
FURSE v, LEERE and another
F-i- Bill (19 July 1641) of John Furse of Ashburton, co. Devon.
Answer (21 Oct. 1641) of John Leere and John Furse of Brownswell in Ash-
burton.
Lands in Ashburton.
Furse
John
Edmund Furse of John Furse of Alston =Thomasine
Ashburton, living a younger brother died in husband's lifetime
25 years since
Matthew Furse John Furse the deft. John Leere, a son-in-
died 1 6 years since nephew of John law of John Furse of
Furse of Alston Alston
John Furse the
compt.
1 The advice given us by many of our readers has been taken, and in
continuing this series of chancery suits we have noted only those which con-
tain valuable genealogical material. The completeness of the series is unin-
jured, seeing that each suit is complete in itself, and the bulk of chancery
proceedings is so great that the mass of them must ever remain beyond the
reach of the genealogist.
37
FAIREBANCKE and others v. DAVENPORT
Bill (29 June 1631) of Joseph Fairebancke of Kingston-on-Thames,
co. Surrey, gent., and Mary his wife, Robert Bartlett the elder of Twickenham,
yeoman, and Robert Bartlett an infant, son and heir of Elizabeth Bartlett his
late wife, Henry Osborne of Sunbury, co. Middlesex, yeoman, and Henry Os-
borne his son, an infant, son and heir of Hester Osborne, deceased, complainants
against Alice Davenport of London, widow.
Stackforde
Stackforde= Alice
L I ii.
= Robert Stackford of= Constance
I Moulsey, co. Sur-
I rey, yeoman, died
I about 25 years since
r i
John
cit. and salter of
London
relict
Joan
Hester
Elizabeth
Matthew
Stackforde
Stackford
Stackforde
Stackforde
wife of
wife of
wife of
marr.
John
Henry
Robert
about
Griffyn
Osborne
Bartlett
30 Eliza.
yeoman
the elder
Will dat.
the elder
4 Sep. 35
1
Eliz.
Thomas
Henry
Robert
Griffyn
Osborne
Bartlett
the younger,
the younger,
was with Davenport
child at the
date of her
husband
Matthew's
will
William
Stackporte
of London,
scrivener
Mary Griffyn
dau. and heir,
wife of Joseph
Fairebanck, gent.
FRANCKLIN v. NORTON and another
Bill (28 Jan. 164^) of Nicholas Francklin of Lincolns Inn, esquire,
and Rebecca his wife.
Demurrer (17 Feb. 164^) of Roger Norton, John Norton and Thomas
Talbot.
Concerning the settlement made 14 June 3 Car. I. before the complain-
ant Rebecca's second marriage.
Bonham Norton of Stretton,
co. Salop, esquire, whose
wife Jane survived him
.
David Briggs of London = Rebecca now wife:
merchant, first husband of (iii.) Nicholas
Francklin, esquire
?
: Arthur Norton of Abbotts
1
Roger
John
Leigh, co. Somerset,
Norton
Norton
esquire, son and heir
38 THE ANCESTOR
GRAY v. LITTLE and another
G Bill (19 June 1628) of Matthew Gray of Farnham, co. Essex, yeoman,
and Mercy his wife.
Answer (20 June 1628) of Gregory Little of Ashon near Radwinter, yeoman,
and Robert Andrewes of Dabden, yeoman.
Concerning a loan of 6o/. made by the said Mercy in her widowhood to
John Andrews her brother, late of Dunmow, yeoman.
Andrews
John
Whitinge
alias
Andrews
A sister of
Mercy Andrews
married to one
Little
i;
. . . Grigg of=Mei
Radwinter,
yeoman
1 i 1
cy Andrews= Matthew Gray . . .
of Farnham, Andi
yeoman
ews
now dead
Gregory Little of
Ashon, yeoman
Robert Andrews of
Debden, yeoman
1
GREATEHEADE v. INGRAM
G-J- Bill (8 May 1628) of Robert Greateheade of Leeds, co. York.
Answer (14 June 1628) of William Ingram.
Concerning a sum of 300^. which one Peter Marston put in trust about
10 years since for the benefit of his three children by Grace his wife.
Peter Marston = Grace, died about
of Leeds I 4 years since
John
Bridget, wife of John William
John Garnett Marston Marston
GOLDSMYTH and another v. TAYLOUR
Gi Bill (31 Oct. 1643) of Robert Goldsmyth, citizen and fruiterer of
London, and Elizabeth, wife of William Taylour, vintner, complainants against
the said William Taylour.
Concerning the estate of Richard Lacy, deceased.
Robert Goldsmyth = Mary Wollsey Richard Lacy = Elizabeth = William Taylour
sister of Elizabeth a very ill and
married after the unkind husband
death of Richard
Lacy
A GENEALOGIST'S KALENDAR
39
GREENING v. DENSLOW and another
IT" G Bill (23 May 1628) of William Greening of Barmton, co. Dorset, yeo-
man, and Edith his wife.
Answer (18 June 1628 at Bridport) of Henry Denslow and William Wakeley.
Concerning a messuage and lands in Waldich co. Dorset, which Richard
Martyn of Pulham, gent., and Margaret his wife, and Nicholas Martyn
of Kingston Russell and Elizabeth his wife conveyed by deed dated
20 June 29 Eliza, to Robert Denslowe alias Bayly.
Robert Denslowe alias Bayly,
who made a will in Feb. i6o
and died z years after
I
I. U. .
Robert Lea = Agnes relict = John Denslowe
and extrix. of alias Bayly, died
Robert Lea, about 7 years
died about z since s.p.
years since
William = Edith Lea, married
Greening about 5 years since
Three daughters
Henry Denslowe
the defendant, ' a
great recusant
papist long since
convict *
GOULDINGE V. GOULDINGE
Bill (19 May 1628) of Thomas Gouldinge of Darsham, co. Suffolk,
esquire, and Frances Gouldinge his sister.
Answer (9 June 1628) and further answer (13 July 1628) of Susan Gouldinge,
widow.
Concerning the goods of Thomas Gouldinge, deceased, late husband of
the defendant, who had separated and lived away from him until his
death. The defendant says that the goods and plate of her late hus-
band's, which she had away at her parting from him were not above the
value of zoom. ' There was a bason and ewer of silver and guilt, one silver
and guilt salt, one silver and guilt bowle, six silver spoones, a little silver
bason, a border, two Jewells, a goulde chayne, three gounes, three petti-
coates, foure kirtles, foure wascoates, five payre of sheetes, foure payre of
pillowbeares, five bordclothes, three dozen of napkyns, six smockes,
foure aprons, six ruffes, six payre of cuffes, six nightrayles, six handker-
, cheefs, eight crosclothes, six quoyfes, two hattes, one beaver and the
other felt, two table carpettes and a payre of bedd curtaynes of dornex,
two ould fetherbeddes and twoe ould trunckes wherein the samegoodes
were.
L
Forde=.
Strangeman=Suzan the defendant = T h o m a s =.
gent. married about 18 or Gouldinge,
19 years since to esquire
Thomas Gouldinge
Johr
in Forde of Eastham
gent., one of the divers
children of Suzan
Thomas Gouldinge
of Darsham,
esquire
Frances
Gouldinge
40 THE ANCESTOR
GLOVER v. DEE and others
G^y Bill (25 Jan. 164!) of Frances Glover of Norwich, widow, complainant
against Arthur Dee, esquire, John Toolye, esquire, and Rowland Dee, mer-
chant.
The complainant is relict and admix, of the goods of Francis Glover,
merchant, who died intestate in 1634 in the empire of Russia, being there
possessed of goods of great value. Arthur Dee, her father, being then in
Russia, hath possessed himself of these goods and refuses an account
confederating with the said Toolye and with Rowland Dee his brother.
GARWAY v. GARWAY
G jL Bill (22 June 1644) of William Garway of London, draper, complain-
ant against Jonas Garway.
Concerning the will dated Nov. 1634 of Dame Elizabeth Garway.
\
[William] Garway = Elizabeth [sister of Sir Henry
I Anderson, knight, alderman of
London, Visit. London, 1633]
William Garway of London,
draper, deceased, one of the
sons of Dame Elizabeth
Garway
William Garway the compt.
GRETHURST v. CARPENTER and others
G-^g Bill (7 June 1632) of Thomas Grethurst of Hull, in the parish of
Wonershe, co. Surrey, yeoman, compt. against Thomas Carpenter, John
Tyckner, Philip a Streete and Thomas a Streete, exors. of the will of the compt.'s
late father, whose brothers in law the said Thomas Carpenter and John Tyckner
were.
Concerning the messuage and lands of Hull in Wonershe.
Thomas Grethurst of Hull in Wonershe.
Will dated 18 April 1620
John Grethurst
son and heir, a
I
Thomas
Grethurst
Robert
Grethurst
E
Richard
Grethurst
17
Philip Christian
Grethurst
J<
minor at his
the compt.
father's death,
now dead
A GENEALOGISTS KALENDAR 41
GOTEHAM v . JARMAM
Bill (19 June 1632) of Andrew Goteham of Newton Abbott, co.
Devon, clothier, and Elizabeth his wife, complainants against John Jarman.
Concerning a deed dated in Feb. 161^ whereby the defendant granted
to his son William Jarman all his goods, delivering to the said William
' one whistle and chayne of silver.'
John Jarman of Cockington,
mariner, the defendant
I. H.
William Jarman of Dartmouth,= Elizabeth, cxtrix of = Andrew Goteham,
mariner of William Jarman married about 6
years past
GELSON and another v. BROWNE
GgL Bill (24 April 1632) of William Gelson of Kirkton in Holland, co.
Lincoln, gent., and Anthony Belton of the same, yeoman, exors. of William
Revell of Kirkton, yeoman, deceased, complainants against William Browne,
gent.
Concerning the portion of John Gelson, son of John Gelson of Kirkton,
deceased.
L ii.
John Gelson of Kirkton = Barbara = William Browne of Selby co.
yeoman. Will dated 28
Feb. 22 Jac. I.
York, gent, married about
6 years since and separated
about 4 years since
John Gelson aged 14 St. Andrew Gelson
years i May 1631
G BERING and another v. EASTOFT
G^g- Bill (4 May 1632) of Stockdale Geering, citizen and merchant taylor of
London (exor. of Nicholas Geering his late brother, deceased), Alexander Geer-
ing of Kingston-on-Hull, merchant, Henry Geering, clerk, and Thomas Geering
and Edward Headley, gent., and Dionis his wife, complainants against John
Eastof t, esquire.
Will of Alexander Geering, deceased, father of the complainants, who
was seised of a lease of the rectory of Winterton, and made a will 26 Aug.
1598 whereof John Eastof t, esquire, his brother-in-law (uncle to the
compts.), Anthony Harrison and Henry Asharine were named exors.,
John Eastoft alone proving the will. The wills of the complainants'
grandmother Skerne and aunt Jane Skerne are mentioned.
THE ANCESTOR
Alexander Geering of Winterton
co. Lincoln, gent.
Peter
Stockdale
T T
Alexander Henry
Tho
nas
Nicholas
Dionis
Katherine Jane
Geering
Geering
Geering Geering
Geering
Geering
Geering
Geering Geering
son and
citizen
who has clerk
served
died on a
in ser-
now
heir aged
and mer-
been em-
for 8 or
voyage to
vice with
dead
not over
chant
ployed in
9 years as
the East
the Lady
1 3 years
taylor
several
a soldier
Indies
Sainpole
at his
services
in the
about 8
until her
father's
abroad
Low
or 9 years
marriage
death
Countries
since, a
with
surgeon
Edward
in the
Headley
ship Unity
GOODRICKE v. THORPE
Bill (28 May 1628) of Henry Goodricke late of Thorner, co. York,
esquire, compt.
Answer (18 June 1628) of Francis Thorpe, esquire.
Concerning a lease 20 Aug. 21 Jac. I. of messuages and lands called
Rowley in Bardsey made to the compt. by Elizabeth Wise, widow
. .
Thomas Wise, gent. = Elizabeth = Francis Thorpe of
Gray's Inn, esquire
GODFREY v. KERLE
Bill (5 Nov. 1627) of Richard Godfrey of Kirton, co. Devon, yeoman.
Answer (12 June 1628) of John Kerle and Amy Kerle.
William Godfrey, who purchased, about the
beginning of the reign of Elizabeth, a mes-
suage in Pennell Street in Bridgwater
Thomas Godfrey son and heir
survived his father and died
about 10 Eliz.
John Godfrey son and heir
died about 3 April, 13
Eliz. s.p.
John Kerle died
about 55 years
since
John Kerle
son and heir
Matthew = Amy
Kerle,
died
about 2^
years past
William Godfrey brother
and heir died c. 10 Jac. I.
John Kerle
the defendant
Richard Godfrey son and heir
the compt.
A GENEALOGISTS KALENDAR
43
GROBHAM v. ST. JOHN and others
Bill (15 May 1633) of George Grobham, one of the eiors. of Sir
Richard Grobham, knight, deceased, by John Grobham of Bromfeild, his father
and guardian, the said George being aged about eleven years.
Answer and demurrer ( ) of Sir John St. John, baronet, and Dame
Margaret his wife, John Howe and George Howe, gentlemen, the last three
being exors. of Sir Richard Grobham.
Concerning the will of Sir Richard Grobham, kt., deceased, whereof
John Grobham his brother, Grace Grobham his sister, and the said John
Grobham of Bromfeild and John Bampton were overseers.
i. u.
Sir Richard Grobham = Margaret = Sir John St. John,
of Great Wishford, co. bart., married 23
Wilts, knight, died Oct. 6 Car. I.
5 J ul 7> 5 Car. I.
GILMORE v. GILMORE and another
Bill (9 July 1633) of John Gilmore the younger of Ford, co. Wilts,
yeoman, complainant, against John Gilmore his father and Thomas Newbery.
Concerning a marriage settlement.
John Gilmore the elder
John Gilmore the younger = . . . . sister of William
Rutland, gent. Settlement
before marriage dated 6
Sep. 19 Jac. I.
Joan one of the daughters
of the compt.
Joseph Gilmore, who
dwells with his father,
whose husbandman
he ii
GILBERT v. MANNINGS
Gi Bill (3 Feb. 164^) of Alice Gilbert of Newington, co. Surrey, widow.
Answer (24 May 1641) of Gershon Manninge.
Concerning a yearly sum due to the compt. as of her jointure in the
manor of Marshalles with its lands in Maresfield and Beddingham,
co. Sussex, whereof John^Rootes died seised.
u u.
John Roots, gent, who = Alice = . . . Gilbert, now dead
died many years since I
!. ll.
Nicholas Rootes = Elizabeth = Edward Nuttall
gent, now dead gent.
44 THE ANCESTOR
GODDEN V. GODDEN
G^f Bill (18 April 1644) of Thomas Godden of Trottiscliffe, co. Kent,
gent.
Answer (18 May 1644) of James Godden, defendant.
Concerning the defendant's marriage settlement.
Thomas Godden of = Mary David Polhill of =
Trottiscliffe, gent. I Otford, esquire
John
Godden James Godden = Martha Polhill, married
son and heir 6 or 7 years since at her
father's house
GLASCOCKE v SLATER and another
G-Jg- Bill (27 April 1630) of Henry Glascocke^of Farneham, 'co. Essex,
gent.
Answer (5 May 1630) of Edmund Slater and George Jacob.
Concerning a marriage settlement.
Henry Glascocke of Farneham =
co. Essex, gent.
Edmund Slater now of= Grace Glascocke
Stortford, gent., late a | lately married
citizen of London
A child
lately born
GIPPS v. GIPPS*
G-i- Bill (21 Nov. 1645) of Thomas Gipps the younger of London,
gent., and Mary his wife.
Answer (29 Nov. 1645) of Thomas Gipps the elder and Mary his wife.
The portion of the compt. who married against his parents' will.
Thomas Gipps = Mary
Thomas Gipps, late a lieutenant = Mary, married about
at Kinsale in Munster I 6 years past
Richard Gipps Thomas Gtpp
aged 4 years aged iji years
A GENEALOGIST'S KALENDAR 45
GOODHALL v. GOODHALL and others
G^g- Bill (30 Oct. 1645) of Mary Goodhall of Kingstowne, co. Surrey,
spinster, by Eleanor Willcocks of Kingstowne, her guardian, who is relict and
extrix. of Robert Willcocks of Kingstowne, gent., her late guardian.
Answer (16 Jan. 164-!) of Dorothy Goodhall, widow, and Robert Good-
hall (defendants with Augustine Welford and Robert Wale).
John Goodhall of St. Paul's = Dorothy, relict, aged
in Bedford the elder,
deceased, a woollen draper
above founcore
years
Robert Goodhall Jhn Goodhall = Anna Kempe. Settlement be-
of London, fore marriage dated 2 July 1623.
haberdasher Survived her husband and made
a will 6 Sept. 1634
Mary Goodhall
only child
GORGES v. STANLEY and others
Bill (l June 1646) of Sir Arthur Gorges of Chelsea, co. Middlesex,
knight.
Answer (5 Nov. 1646) of Elizabeth, Lady Stanley, defendant with Charles
and James Stanley, Dame Dudley Lane and Susan Hadnett.
Concerning the will of Dame Elizabeth Gorges, widow, deceaied.
Sir Arthur Gorges, knight, made a will = Elizabeth. Will dated
1 8 May and died Sept. 1625 I 18 July, 1643
Sir Arthur Gorges of = Dame Elizabeth Dame Dudley
Chelsea, knight | Stanley, widow = Lane, widow
Arthur Gorges Ferdinando Gary Gorget Elizabeth Gorget Charles Stanley
a minor Gorges a daughter James Stanley
46 THE ANCESTOR
NOTES ON THE TILES AT TEWKESBURY
ABBEY
REMAINS of the original encaustic tiles are to be found
on the floor in several parts of the abbey, the best
preserved being those in the chapel of the founder in the
north ambulatory. The original tiles were discovered under
the floor of the choir at the time of the restoration in 1875,
and from these and others then found the present floor of
the choir was designed by Godwin of Lugwardine. There
are two interesting tiles that have not been included in the
number of those copied, the reason for the omission being that
they were not found until after the copies were made. One
of them is to be found in the south ambulatory on the floor
of a fourteenth century tomb supposed to be of one of the
early abbots. It is the coat of Nevill with a label of three
pendants, impaling the arms of Despenser. The other tile is
in a recess on the west side of the Norman chapel in the south
transept. It is a shield quartering the arms of Beauchamp,
Clare, Monthermer and Montague.
HAL HALL
BFAUCHAMP OF BERGAVENNY
THE IMPERIAL EAGLE
47
BURGHERSH
BEAUCHAMP (?)
48
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR
ARMS OF DESPENSER
ENGLAND AND FRANCE
60
ARMS OF CORBET (?)
ENGLAND
CLARE
A FLEUR DE LYS
u
A GRIFFON
BERKELEY
(3
BEAUCHAMP OF HOLT AND AN UNCERTAIN SHIELD
ARMS OF SOMERVILLE OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE
THB ARMS ATTRIBUTED TO ROBERT FITZHAMON, IMPALED WITH THI
CROSS OF THE ABBEY
NEWBURGH AND DESPKHSER
ARMS OF THE NEWBURGH EARLS or WARWICK, WITH THE BADGE OF THE CHAINED BBAR
66
TILES MADE UP OK FRAGMENTS OF THE ARMS OF DESPENSKR AND BEAUCHAMP WITH OTHERS
BEAUCHAMP OF HOLT AND BEAUCHAMP OF POWYCK
o
ARMS OF COBHAM OR PEYVRE
E
TILES WITH VARIOUS DEVICES
ti
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 1
THE ancient parish of Manchester, with its large area and
teeming population, is now served by a great number
of churches, I believe considerably more than a hundred in all.
Down to a comparatively recent date, besides the town of
Manchester itself, then of limited extent, its streets and
houses clustering round the church and college, it contained
the suburb of Salford, with its chapel, across the Irwell, and a
number of scattered rural hamlets, several of which also had
chapels of their own. Among these was Stretford. The
chapelry included two townships, Stretford and Trafford,
held by the same lords for so many centuries that the former
boundary between them has been disused and forgotten.
Both were traversed by the high road to Chester, and together
occupied the south-western corner of the parish, bounded on
the west by the parishes of Eccles and Flixton, on the south by
the river Mersey and the county of Chester.
In the last volume of the Ancestor mention was made of
the Chetham Society and its contributions to local history.
Concerned as it has been with two Counties Palatine, the
Society has not neglected its own headquarters. Mr. Har-
land's Mamecestre gave, in three volumes, a historical ac-
count of the town ; and was followed by two more volumes
of Collectanea relating to Manchester and the neighbourhood.
From materials left by Canon Raines one editor has compiled
a record of the rectors and wardens, another of the fellows of
the Collegiate Church. The Rev. John Booker turned his
attention to the chapelries. Beginning with a history of
Blackley, he contributed to the society's publications a sketch
of Denton, included in a volume of Miscellanies, and pro-
ceeded to give the history of Didsbury and Chorlton in one
volume, and that of Birch in another. The same good work
has now been done for Stretford by Mr. Crofton, in the face
1 A History of the Ancient Chapel of Stretford, in Manchester Parish, including
Sketches of the Township of Stretford, together with Notices of Local Families
and Persons, by H. T. Crofton. 3 vols. Manchester. Printed for the Chetham
Society (new ser. xlii., xlv., li.), 1899-1903.
65
66 THE ANCESTOR
of many difficulties and most serious interruptions ; and he
has given us no less than three volumes full of matter of very
varied interest.
In a country like ours every town and village has its own
connection with the past ; nay, a single house or enclosure
will often have a history. Stretford can boast, among its
worthies, the late Mr. John Rylands, whose memory is per-
petuated in Manchester by the splendid library that bears his
name, and Thomas Walker, author of The Original. Here it
was that Brindley accomplished his feat of carrying the Bridg-
water canal over a moss. Mr. Crofton has added to his history
copious extracts from parish registers, churchwardens'accounts,
manorial records, and vestry minutes, with an appendix of
copies or abstracts of many Trafford evidences. His illus-
trations include a number of views in the two townships,
several of the Trafford family portraits, and a reproduction
of an estate map in sections.
Of most general interest however is the history of the
family of Trafford, lords of both Trafford and Stretford, in
his last volume. The antiquity of this family is, in Lanca-
shire, an article of faith. Nor is the belief itself a matter of
yesterday. Richard Robinson, a quaint local poet of the
Elizabethan age, in A Golden Mirrour, 1 left a collection of
* etimologies,' or acrostic verses of a complimentary character
upon the names of knights and gentlemen of that country.
Nowthere were many old families then in Lancashire Ashtons,
Pilkingtons and Worsleys ; Standish, Molyneux, and even
Stanley. But it is only when Sir Edmund Traffbrd's name is
the subject of his l vision ' that our poet chooses Time for his
interlocutor.
Now rise (quoth she) and turne thy face towards the Ocean sea,
A triple foorded riuer shall direct thy ready way :
Where thou shalt finde Antiquitie, the maker of the place,
Whose name hath bene Tyme out of mynde, before the conquest was.
Many pedigrees of the Traffords are extant, in manuscript or
in print ; but most of them display certain features in common,
such as dates and other particulars attached to the earlier
names, which clearly indicate a common origin. Compare,
for example, those printed by Corry and by Baines in their
several Histories of Lancashire with that which has been
1 Chetham Soc. xxiii.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 67
erroneously included in Dugdale's Visitation, and with the
narrative pedigree among Canon Raines' collections in the
Chetham Library. 2 To remove all doubt as to their source,
Corry cites an old pedigree on vellum, which was compiled for
Sir Cecil Trafford in the seventeenth century. Nor need
we feel much doubt as to the authorship of this vellum pedi-
gree. In a manuscript book of Randle Holme 3 maybe seen,
under the heading :
' Trafford of Trafford. Collecc'ons out of Auncient Deeds and Evidence of
your house, Extant 1638, as alsoe out of y e Ancient Booke called the Blacke Booke
of Trafford, the Heralds Booke,' etc.
what has every appearance of being a first draft of the earlier
portion. The only question is whether the embroidery which
embellishes it was the compiler's own work, or whether he
found it ready to his hand in this Black Book, a document of
which neither the date nor character has hitherto transpired.
It * is not known to be now in existence,' is all Mr. Crofton
can tell us ; and inquiries of my own have led to no better
result.
Randle Holme then (if it is he) begins his pedigree with
* Radulpbus 4 de Trafford, D'nus de Trafford, before ye Con-
quest,' described as ' a Thane, next in degree of Nobility to an
Alderman, or Earle, and equall to our Lord Barons nowe, as
is Proved by Ancient Tradition ' he weakly adds : but ' hee
had noe Surname, as most of ye nobility had not in those
tymes.' Further, on the ground that his son Rafe had him-
self a son Robert at man's estate at the conquest, he estimates
that the first Radulphus must have ' florished in King Kanutus
his tyme, about ye yeare 1030, and died in St. Edward ye
Confessor's tyme.' The second Rafe and Robert, he finds,
4 receaved ye king's peace, and protection from Sir Hamond
Mascy, Baronett of Dunham Mascy, about ye yeare 1080 ' ;
noting that * there are Ancient deeds graunted to Rafe sonne
of Rafe, and Robert his son, by Sir Hamond Mascy, & free
pardon and protection, and alsoe y e Lands and bodies of one
Wulfernote (some rebell) : the stile is without date, and of
y e Conq rs tyme.' From Robert is traced the descent of the
1 Chetham Soc. Ixxxviii.
2 Raines MS. xiii. f. 39.
3 Harleian MS. 2077, f. 292.
4 Apparently an error for Ranulpbus, as we shall see.
68 THE ANCESTOR
Traffords, of whose evidences further abstracts will be found
in another of his books. 1
Needless to say, in an age of criticism a pedigree like this
has not gone unchallenged. Mr. Shirley 2 shook his head over
what he found in Baines, and assumed that the antiquity of
the family was exaggerated chiefly, it would seem, because
the founder of the house was (as above, very inconsistently)
credited with a surname. The anonymous author of The
Norman People in England can do better than that. Relying
on a statement, in the Testa de Nevill, that Payn de Vilers
gave to Alan his son by knight service the land of Trafford,
which Robert de Vilers then (1212) held by the same ser-
vice, he announces triumphantly that the Traffords were
really cadets of Vilers, and Normans after all. Certainly it is
startling, at first sight, to be confronted with such a finding
by a Lancashire jury in a Lancashire inquisition. But a care-
ful scrutiny of records shows that the Trafford with which we
are concerned was never held by knight service at all ; that it
was held in chief, and not of the Vilers barony ; and that the
tenant, at this date, was not Robert de Vilers, but one Henry
de Trafford, who was actually one of the jurors on this occa-
sion. Evidently therefore there is something wrong. On
further investigation it appears that the land which Robert
de Vilers held was, in fact, Treyford in Sussex. 3
It is a more serious matter when Mr. Round comes forward
to denounce our pedigree as a ' grotesquely impossible tale,'
and declare that l it is shattered by Domesday Book/ *
Granted the thane is not named in that record, nor his son
either ; does Mr. Round find in that proof positive that no
such persons ever existed ? Unfortunately, of all the hun-
dreds included in the survey, none perhaps is so scurvily
treated as that in which Trafford lies. The hundred and
manor of Salford, we learn, were held by King Edward him-
self, and granted by the Conqueror, with the whole of the five
hundreds adjacent between Ribble and Mersey, to Roger of
i Karl. MS. 2112, f. 133 sqq.JP '
1 The Noble and Gentle Men of England (1859), P- IO 9- Misled, no doubt, by
the confused account in Baines' Lancashire, he himself inaccurately places
Trafford in the parish of Eccles.
3 Rot. Curia Regis, 6 Ric. I. (ed. Palgrave), 12; Rot. Hundred., 210, 213;
Elwes, West Sussex, 241, 242 n Farrer, Lancashire Inquests, i. (corrigenda).
* Peerage Studies, f..; see also p. 65.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 69
Poitou. At that date (owing to his rebellion, which is matter
of history) they were in the king's hand. Roger had enfeoffed
here five knights (tenants by knight service), one of them,
perhaps, to be identified with the Gamel who held two
hides before the Conquest. Three thanes (taint), not
named, held of Roger's demesne. There had formerly been
within the hundred twenty-one berewicks, held by as many
thanes for as many manors. Of their fate after the conquest
we have no information ; but at the next survey, in King
John's time, we read of a number of manors still held in
thanage (in tkenagio), a fact which suggests that many or all
of them had been left undisturbed. At any rate, when one of
these tenants in thanage is put forward by tradition as, not
merely successor in title, but the lineal descendant of one of
King Edward's thanes, I cannot myself see anything in Domes-
day to shatter his claim. Indeed I should go further, and say
that Domesday, so far as it goes, tells in his favour.
Now from 1205, when Henry de Trafford paid his relief, to
the present day there is ample proof in public records of the
main facts of the pedigree. Before him was a Robert son of
Ralph de Trafford, whose name, as a former lord of Trafford, is
found in a pipe roll of Henry III., 1 but with nothing to fix his
date. For other evidence we have only certain copies of
ancient Trafford charters to be found in our puolic libraries.
The originals are, I am credibly informed, still in existence,
and in the possession of the family. So many points of interest
arise out of these, so rich a mine of information do they pro-
mise concerning the early history of both Palatinates, 2 that a
scholarly edition of them by competent hands would be a real
boon. Mr. Crofton tells us he has seen a few only a few.
The copies we have are very unsatisfactory indeed. The pur-
port of some deeds was evidently, in parts, unintelligible alike
to Canon Raines and to Randle Holme, to whom we are in-
debted for abstracting them ; nor can either of them be
trusted for accuracy in transcribing names. Upon Canon
Raines' work, his diligence and his deficiencies, I have com-
mented elsewhere ; 3 he may be convicted, for example, of con-
1 Now printed by Mr. Farrer : Lane. Inq. i. 138.
1 Besides the Trafford and Stretford deeds, Canon Raines found one impor-
tant series relating to Barton and its dependencies, another to Croston and that
neighbourhood. The Cheshire deeds are less complete ; but for elucidating the
pedigree of Mascy, for example, the Stretford charters are indispensable.
3 The Ancestor^ iv. 206 n.
70 THE ANCESTOR
fusion at times between the names Richard, Nicholas and
Michael. Randle Holme's copies have every note of haste.
Their versions however are entirely independent of one
another ; and where they are in agreement, we may feel
tolerably secure. But not infrequently they differ. And
while we have Randle Holme's authority for some documents
not copied by Canon Raines, we have many more copied only
by the latter.
What then is the information to be extracted from these
copies, such as they are ? Briefly, the effect of the earliest is
as follows :
1. Hamund de Maci to Ralph son of Randolph and Robert his son and their
heirs. Grant of Wlfernote (Wlfret note) and his heirs (heredes suos\ to hold
freely of grantor and his heirs in consideration of 4 marks. Witnesses of this
agreement (convencionis) : Adam the chaplain, Robert de Maci, Robert de
Tattun, William de Tattun, Matthew de Bromhale, Matthew de Mortun
(Moston), Roger son of Hamund de Maci, Adam son of Richard, [Geoffrey son
of Robert de Maci, Robert Malveisin,] Geoffrey son of Richard de Maci, Simon
son of Hugh, William his brother, and Hugh de Maci, Robert the reeve (preposi-
tus) and Hugh his son. 1
2. Hamund de Masci to Robert son of Ralph and his heirs. Grant of Wol-
fernote (Wolflet note) and his heirs, to hold of grantor, etc., in accordance with
his father's charter. Witnesses : Matthew de Bromhall, Hugh de Maci, Robert
de Maci, Hamund de Maci son of Hamund, Adam? and William his brethren,
Peter Canutus, Robert de Arderne, Simon de Turre, Richard son of Kospatric,
William and Roger brethren of Sir Hugh the reeve ( ?), Hugh de Stretford,
Robert Fitz Warin, Henry his brother, Robert the clerk. 2
3. Hamon de Mascy to Robert son of Ralph. Gift of one bovate of land in
Stretford, namely an eighth part of the town, in fee and inheritance, to hold of
grantor and his heirs for his homage and service and a rent of ^s. Witnesses :
Adam son of Orm, Robert de Stokeport, Hugh de Dotterie (Duttone ?), Matthew
de Bromhale, Hugh de Mascy, Alan de Tattun, Simon caenarius, Hugh the baker
(?), Hugh de Stretford, Robert de Mascy, Henry de Stretford, Robert de Erdene,
William (the shepherd ?), Thomas and Richard clerks. 3
4. Hamon de Mascy to Henry son of Robert. Gift, for his homage and ser-
vice, of one bovate of land of grantor's demesne in Asselehe (Ashleyhay ?), which
Uhtred held, namely a fourth part of the town, to hold to him and his heirs of
grantor and his heirs (with reservations concerning pannage) at a rent of 3/.
Witnesses : Patrick de Modburley, Hugh de Mascy, Richard de Kingesley, Liolf
de Twamlawe, Richard his son, Alan de Tatton, Adam de Bromhale, Adam de
Carinton, William de Mascy clerk, Henry de (Fulsahe ?), John de Barton,
Matthew de Birches, Hugh de Stretford, Richard the clerk of Manchester.*
5. Hamon de Mascy to Henry son of Robert de Trafford. Gift, for his
homage and service, of one bovate of land of grantor's demesne in Stretford,
P * Raines MS. xxv. f. 87 ; Harl. MS. 2112, f. 137. The latter omits two of
the witnesses. 2 Raines MS. xxv. f. 90 ; Harl. MS. 21 12, f. 137.
3 Raines MS. xxv. f. 178. Raines MS. xxv. f. 80-1.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 71
which William son of Robert l held, to hold to him and his heirs'of grantor and
his heirs at a rent of 2s., with quittance of the service of a doomsman, which is
to be performed by another tenant. Witnesses : Robert de Penulbury, Adam
his son, Geoffrey de Bur[un ?], Adam de Aston, Hugh de Mascy, Robert his son,
Alan de Taton, Henry de Aston, Hugh de Stretford, William de Radeclive,
Alexander de Pilkinton, Richard the clerk of Manchester. 8
6. Gospatric de Cherelton (on the seal, Chorltun) to Henry son of Robert
son of Ralph de Traford. Gift, for his homage and service, of one fourth of
Cherelton, to wit four bovates of land, two which Randolph held, one which
Steinuulf held, and one which Robert son of Edwin held, to hold to him and his
heirs of grantor and his heirs at a rent of 5*. Witnesses : Roger de Buron (Bur-
tun), Orm de Astun, Robert Burun, Matthew de Redich, William de Radecl[ive]
Roger de Middilton, Adam de Buri, Gilbert de Noton, William his son, Geoffrey
de Burun, Hugh de Stretford, Alexander de Pilkinton, Matthew de Glothec,
Hugh de Soreswrth, Robert his brother, Robert son of Hugh de Masci. 3
7. Elias son of Robert de Penelbury to Henry son of Robert son of Ralph de
Trafford. Gift, for his homage and service, of the whole land of Gildehusestide,
(metes and bounds,) partaking in all liberties which the free men of Matthew son
of William his lord have by charter, at a rent of 4*. to grantor and 2s. to the said
lord and his heirs, who shall have a right of way to carry hay through the said
land. Witnesses : Richard son of Henry, Robert de Burun, Richard de Pere-
pont, William de Radeclive, Alexander son of Gilbert de Harewode, Henry son
of Geoffrey de Mamecestre, Peter de Burnhil, Alexander de Pilkinton, Matthew
de Redich, Hugh de Stretford, Adam de Ormeston, Robert son of Hugh de
Mascy, Richard the clerk of Manchester. 4
In the light of this evidence I do not think the most im-
patient critic will any longer deny the existence of the im-
possible Randolph, or refuse assent to the following pedigree,
with which, be it observed, Randle Holme, when stripped of
his exuberances, will be found to agree.
Ranulphus
Radulphus filius Ranulphi
Robertus filius Radulphi de Trafford
" I
Henricus filius Robert! Willelmus filius
filii Radulphi de Trafford Robert!
For the rest, far be it from me to deny that Ralph may
have had a grant of the king's pardon and peace, with protec-
tion against Sir Hamon de Mascy, or Sir Ramon's pardon and
protection against the world at large, or both. There were
1 A deceased brother, I suppose, of the grantee.
1 Raines MS. xxv. f. 177.
3 Ibid. 89 ; Harl. MS. 2112, f. I37b ; also copied by Kuerden.
Raines MS. xxv. f. 198 ; Harl. MS. 2112, f. 137.
72 THE ANCESTOR
perhaps additional particulars, apocryphal or not, to be found
in the Black Book or elsewhere, in Randle Holme's days ; but
his language does awake in me a suspicion that he read, or
thought he read, something to that effect in the first two
charters, which we can only say is not disclosed in his abstracts
or copies of them, nor in Canon Raines' either. If that was
so, the dates he adopted are now explained. For No. I, as he
understood it, the conquest seemed an appropriate epoch :
date of the conquest, of course, 1066. Robert, mentioned in
that deed, was presumably of age ; his grandfather therefore
must have flourished some thirty or forty years earlier. Sub-
sequent generations, no doubt, had to be spread out rather in
order to make all shipshape ; but no matter. It was a good
way on to a point where his materials permitted, or required
exact chronology. These Traffords were stout, long-lived
men no doubt ; they could afford to pick and choose, and were
in no hurry to sow their wild oats and marry. With Henry,
whose death it places in 1 200, the pedigree is only twenty years
out. But to this subject we must return later. As Mr. Crofton
suggests, a scrutiny of the original charter might perhaps help
us to form at any rate an opinion as to its probable date.
The exact text of the charter in question would, I think,
be of interest also to students of early law. So far as our in-
formation goes, it suggests analogies on the one hand with
the conveyance of a villein and his sequela, which is common
enough ; on the other, with that of the rent and services of a
free tenant. It differs from the latter by omitting all mention
of rents and services, and purporting to convey a person and
his issue ; while distinguished from the former by the word
heredes, which may be taken as material, being the term appro-
priate to a freeholder, with an estate of inheritance, and not
to servile tenure. Later Henry de Trafford is found to hold
two bovates in Stretford under Mascy. It has occurred to
me, as a possible suggestion, that the same holding may per-
haps be the subject matter of Nos. 3 and 5 ; and that the
second bovate may represent a seigniory, or mesne lordship,
arising out of Nos. I and 2. 1
1 Mr. Farrer has suggested that a certain Ralph de Dunun, whose name
occurs in 1187-8, was a Trafford, on the ground that the Traffords are known
to have been tenants in Dunham (Lane. Pipe Rolls [addenda], v.). Apparently
he is alluding to these Mascy charters ; though why he should assume that they
necessarily relate to Dunham, I do not quite understand. There is no evidence,
so far as I know, that the Traffords did hold land there.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 73
Let us now trace the descent a generation or two further.
The family archives have yielded a number of other undated
deeds to which Henry de Trafford is a party. But at this
point we can leave them, and turn to public records.
1205. Henry de Traford pays 2Os. relief for half a carucate in Traford, and
has livery. His predecessor unfortunately is not named. (Fine Roll, 7 John,
m. 10.)
1212. Henry de Trafford a juror at the great Lancashire survey. He is
returned as holding 4 bovates in thanage (Trafford, that is ; but the place is not
here mentioned), 5 bovates in Chorlton under Gospatric, and 2 bovates in Stret-
ford under Hamon de Maci. (Knights' fees, B. I, No. 9.)
1221. Richard son of Henry de TrafFord pays 2os. relief for half a caru-
cate in Trafford, late of his father, and has livery. (Fine Roll, 6 Henry III. m. 9.)
At about this date Avice widow of Henry de Stretford (Trafford ?) is re-
turned as being in the king's gift. (Knights' fees, as above : see Farrer, Lane .
Inq. i. 1 29.)
1246. Mention several times of Jordan, and once of Robert, brothers of
Richard de Trafford. Robert's name is struck out ; not, I take it, to indicate
that it was wrong, but simply that he was dismissed from the suit. (Assize Roll,
404, m. 26, etc.)
1272. Commission for an assize of novel disseisin between Henry de Trafford
and Robert de Barlowe in Trafford and Stretford, apparently implying that
Richard was dead. (Pat. I Edw. I. m. 15^.)
Henry de Stratford (sic) was defendant in an assize in Stratford, for which a
similar commission issued in 1265. (Pat. 49 Henry III. m. 15^.)
1292. Henry de Trafford sues to recover from Henry de Chaderton the
manors of Chaderton and Foxdenton, as heir of Richard his grandfather, who
had granted the same to Geoffrey, 1 a younger son. (Assize Roll, 408, m. 47^.)
1358. William son of Robert de Radeclif recovers a third part of Edgeworth,
as heir at law of Robert de Radeclif and Anabilla his wife, daughter of Richard
de TrafFord, who gave it to them in frank marriage. (Assize Roll, 438, m. yd.)
We thus arrive at the following pedigree :
Henry de Trafford=
paid relief 1205,
dead 1221
- [? Avice, eurrived
her husband]
Richard de Trafford= . . . Jordan 2
paid relief 1221, 1246
deadi27z(?),i26 5 (?)
Robert a
1246
I 1 I
Henry de Trafford Geoffrey dc Chaderton Anabilla wife of
1272, dead 1292 dead 1292 Robert de Radeclif
1 Readers of the Ancestor may remember an account of Geoffrey and his
issue, or some of them, viii. 86-7.
a Probably to be identified with Jordan de Stretford and Robert de Stretford,
who were undertenants of Richard de Trafford in Stretford.
74 THE ANCESTOR
The question remains how this piece of pedigree is to be
joined to that already given above ; and herein lies the one
serious difficulty in the history of the Traffords. We may
safely say that the four charters, Nos. 4-7, belong to a period
between 1180 and 1220. If any one of these can be shown to
be later than 1205, then Henry son of Robert was the Henry
de Trafford who succeeded his father (or possibly his brother)
in 7 John. If any one of them can be shown to be earlier than
that date, then that was a second Henry, the son (as Randle
Holme supposed), or at any rate the successor of Henry son of
Robert. I cannot pretend to fix the date of any of them with
sufficient accuracy ; and prefer to offer no opinion upon the
balance of probability. 1
Could the doubt be resolved, we should be better able to
assign approximate dates to the persons named in the first
charters. Richard de Trafford was of age in 1221 : he was
born therefore not later than 1200 -possibly a good deal ear-
lier. Mr. Crofton reports a deed of 1205 to which he was a
witness ; but if he lived until near the end of King Henry's
reign, his birth is not likely to have been much before 1190.
Reckoning from about 1195, and twenty-five years to a gener-
ation ; then, if there was but one Henry, the birth of Randolph
would be about 1095 ; if there were two, about 1070. Allow
thirty years to a generation, and the dates would be 1075 and
1045 respectively. I submit, therefore, that we shall not be
far wrong if we set down the impossible Randolph as a real
person, probably a contemporary of the Conqueror, born
somewhere in the latter half of the eleventh century ; and the
date of the earliest charter we have as certainly later than 1 1 30,
and most probably belonging to the third quarter of that
century.
Another point that has naturally attracted criticism is the
story attached to the well known crest of the Traffords, the
thresher with his accompanying motto. Among Hearne's
Curious Discourses will be found one treating ' of the Anti-
quity, Variety, and Reason of Motts, with Arms of Noblemen
1 In 4 and 6 John a Robert son of Ralph owed arrears of scutage (Farrer,
Lane. Pipe Rolls, 153, 159, 179). No surname or locality is attached to him, and
Mr. Farrer has not attempted to identify him with Trafford or any other family.
So far as we know, the Traffords held nothing at this time by knight service ;
and one would not expect to find a tenant in thanage under the heading, de
finibus militum.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 75
and Gentlemen in England,' by Mr. Agarde, dated 1600
where the legend is thus given :
The auncyentteste * I know or have read, is that of Trafords or Trafard in
Lancashire, whose arms a are a labouring man with a flayle in his hand threshinge,
and this written mott,
Now thus,
which they say came by this occasion : that he, and other gentlemen, opposing
themselves against some Normans, who came to invade them ; this Traford
dyd them much hurte, and kepte the passages against them. But that at length
the Normans having passed the ryver, came sodenlye upon him, and then he dis-
guising himselfe, went into his barne, and was threshing when they entered, yet
beinge knowen by some of them, and demanded why he so abased himself, an-
swered, Now thus.
Here we have, in a sad state of decay, one of those fighting
legends dear to the heart of Sir Walter Scott. What might
he not have made of it. Imagine his Norman knight dis-
mounted, entrapped into the barn, confronted by our stalwart
thane, brought to his knees by one swinging stroke of the flail,
glad to escape with life and limb on any terms. Or imagine
an oppressed Saxon starting up from beneath every sheaf, as
the voice of their leader rang among the rafters. Mr. Agarde
must have been a man of slow imagination : he gives but a
poor skeleton of a story, that we may clothe with flesh and
blood to our liking. 3
But have we, in this crude legend, a genuine tradition of
the conquest ? By the conquest, be it understood, we mean,
not the pitched battle of 1066, but the obscure conflict last-
ing until, at some undetermined date, Saxon was fused with
Norman, and they became one nation. Such traditions are
rare. There is indeed the tale of Hereward, but to name
another, with any sort of substance behind it, is not so easy.
Those dogged forefathers of ours were not the men to weave
romance out of their sufferings, or wring the hearts of their
oppressors with lyrics of passion and woe. They set their
teeth to resist, and went down fighting ; or in dumb resentment
bided their time. Our literature was no doubt the poorer.
1 Mott, I think, is the word to supply : not (as Mr. Crofton has it) * armorial
device.'
* He should, of course, have written crest.
3 Palgrave, in The Merchant and the Friar, tried his hand upon it ; but he
had not got up his facts. To christen his thane Thurkill was hardly more mala-
droit than to invent a Malory for his invader ; and the settlement he imagined
for them happens to be contrary to history.
76 THE ANCESTOR
Mr. Crofton is not inclined to be too sceptical. Without
committing himself to belief or disbelief, he suggests (in a foot-
note) that surrounding circumstances are not altogether against
the legend. The question is worth a moment's examination.
And first let us return to Domesday. That record summarily
presents to us the hundred of Salford much as it was in King
Edward's time. Gamel's holding is assessed in carucates,
and is now held by a Norman tenure. Four other tenants
by knight service have been placed there, none of them with
fiefs of any size. Instead of King Edward they all had for
their chief lord, until his forfeiture, Roger of Poitou.
These arrangements however had already broken down,
and great changes were to follow. The manor of Salford and
the hundred remained in the Crown ; but a barony of Man-
chester was erected, and conferred upon Grelle. Whether
the tenants by knight service, or any of them, suffered for-
feiture with their lord, we are not told. 1 The next survey
shows a striking increase of knights' fees. The baron, with
his vassals, is now rated at twelve, not all, it is true, within the
hundred or county ; Montbegon similarly at eight. In
Pendleton is a small tenant in chief. One manor has been
subjected to the Peverell fee ; four others to the lords of
Marsey, and Urmston in the parish of Flixton, the township
next Stretford on the west, is one of them. The baron of
Dunham has crossed the Mersey, and added Stretford itself
to his manors on the Cheshire side. The number of thanage
tenants has fallen to a dozen or so. 2 Evidently in this hundred
the conquest was not at an end by 1086.
Observe now the position of Trafford. With the baron's
castle two miles to the north, the baron's feudatories for neigh-
bours in Withington on the east, and in Barton on the west, 3
the lords of Marsey and of Dunham, advancing upon him
1 Mr. Farrer suggests that one of them was Warine Bussel, ancestor of the
barons of Penwortham; and his two carucates the manor of Ash ton, which
Grelley held of Bussel. (Lane. Inq. i. 35.)
2 It would however be possible to make up eighteen, or even twenty-one
manors, out of the various quantities they held.
3 Whickleswick and Davyhulme, marching with TrafFord on the west, were
members of Barton. Hulme, on the north, was a century later counted within
the barony of Manchester ; Mr. Farrer identifies it (Lane. Inq. i. 70) with four
bovates held in chief by Henry de Chetam in 1212, but cites no evidence.
Chorlton, on the east, also appears as held in thanage, though later a depen-
dency of Withington, which itself touches the eastern boundary.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 77
shoulder to shoulder from the south, never was sturdy thane
in more precarious position. Good cause had he to keep his
back to the wall, his wits about him, and a stout flail handy.
Yet there he was still in King John's time ; indeed, in a sense,
there he is now.
History has not recorded the manner in which these move-
ments were carried out. For aught we know it may have been
by some perfectly legal method of pacific penetration, by
marriage, purchase, or agreement, with ample compensation
for disturbance. Hardly however, in the assumed state of
public feeling, without friction and misunderstanding. We
need not imagine a ruthless determination to exterminate or
plunder the former owners of the soil ; for dangers enough lurk
in a simple question of boundaries, when the new comer is
inclined to be high-handed, and his neighbour is sore. The
lord of Trafford may already have had, or claimed to have,
some interest in Stretford. The holding of this Wolfernote
(if such was his name) may have extended along a doubtful
border line. In a dozen ways the conflict of interests will arise
between owners of adjoining estates, even when there is no
question of race or politics to divide them. In fact, if Trafford
and Mascy never fell out (for tradition points to Mascy), it
speaks volumes for both of them ; and if we dare not say the
story is true, we may at least pronounce it likely enough.
On the other hand, two difficulties must be admitted. In
the first place two other families of the same hundred, Pilking-
ton and Ashton, have similar crests mowers instead of the
thresher : the former has adopted the motto as well, and
claimed to be the hero of the story. Neither Pilkington nor
Ashton however can make out as good a case. The root of the
latter's title is on record : one Orm had a moiety of Ashton
from the baron of Manchester in marriage with his daughter,
and Roger his son a grant of the whole manor. 1 The early
history of the Pilkingtons is all unknown ; but instead of being
Saxon irreconcilables they were more probably on the side of
the invader, for Pilkington again was held of the baron by
knight service. How they came by their mowers it would
be idle to guess ; but both were from an early period neigh-
1 Mr. Farrer states that this Orm and Roger were ancestors of Kirkby of
Kirkby Irleth ; and that the Ashtons descend from a later Orm de Ashton,
who was again an undertenant of Kirkby there (Lane. Inq. i. 57). His conjec-
tures about the Pilkingtons may be found ibid. 55.
F
78 THE ANCESTOR
hours of the Traffords, and very possibly allied to them by-
blood.
I should not myself give much weight to the objection,
taken by Shirley and others, that the crest was only granted
by the heralds in the sixteenth century. For that matter,
a crest may have been devised and used long before the date
at which some herald managed to secure a fee for it. 1 In its
present form the TrafTord crest is not likely to be much earlier
than the date of the alleged grant. The addition of the
sheaf is a note of decadence. It detracts from the design,
and would look still more out of place if set upon a helmet.
At Wilmslow, as Mr. Crof ton mentions, the thresher may yet
be seen in glass of the sixteenth century, probably coeval with
the heralds' earliest visitations. 2 Here, if I remember right, he
is very freely treated, standing on a mound, with no sheaf.
The Pilkington mower had certainly been in use a century or
so before : we find that engraved upon seals of the time of
Henry VI. After all it is the antiquity of the tradition, not
of the crest, that we were discussing.
At any rate we have no ground for supposing that this
legend was invented to adorn a pedigree. The pedigree, we
know, is later than Mr. Agarde's tract. Before Mr. Agarde
we have the Golden Mirrour ; and the crest admittedly can be
traced still further back than that. Nor is the pedigree itself,
with all its faults, one of those concoctions round which the
figments of imagination are prone to gather. As we have seen,
it is on the whole a sound piece of work enough. The judici-
ous critic need not tear it up in his haste, but may be content
to prune off a few excrescences.
There is yet another aspect of the matter. The survey of
King John's time gave us a dozen or more thanage tenants in
Salfordshire. What of the others ? Did they all descend
from thanes of King Edward ? How came Trafford after-
wards to be distinguished from the rest ? An examination of
the list will furnish the answer to these questions. Some of the
thanes' holdings had by the thirteenth century come to the
hands of invaders, such as Montbegon and Nevill. Notton, a
1 To the best of my recollection it appears in the official copy of the first
visitation of Lancashire, and what was passed at a first visitation may be of any
age.
1 In a window at the rectory ; but I have no doubt it was among the heraldic
glass in which the church was once so rich.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 79
stranger from Yorkshire, was possessed of one : undertenants
of neighbouring manors, Radeclive, Middleton, Chetham and
Pilkington, held others. Besides Trafford, only Chorlton, Prest-
wich and Pendlebury were (as the Scotch say) of that ilk ; and
Pendlebury's was quite a recent grant. 1 A few generations
later and Chorlton, Prestwich and Pendlebury had vanished.
But the Traffords continued in Trafford, with their male line
unbroken, their ancient charters safe in their strong box, their
name, their tenure and their legend to focus as it were their
tradition of ancient lineage.
Once again mark the revenges that time has brought. In
Withington the first Henry of their line became a tenant under
Grelle. Out of that tenancy grew up so close an alliance that
in the fourteenth century Trafford was bearing arms of affec-
tion granted by his lords. 2 Where the Norman's castle stood
stands now a house of charity and good learning, called after
the name of the thane's son ; for Chetham is a branch of
Trafford. 8 It was Richard de Trafford of our pedigree who
acquired, from a widowed daughter of the house of Mascy,
the whole manor of Stretford, where he and his ancestors had
been tenants ; and his descendants are lords there to this day.
Mascy himself added a release of his mesne lordship, and thus
the tide of invasion was rolled back across Mersey again. Nor
was that all. Early in the fifteenth century Sir Edmund, the
first of that name, married Alice Venables, a great Cheshire
heiress, who not merely shared the representation of the barons
of Dunham, but was actually the senior coheir, or heir of line.
Dunham Massey formed no part of her rich inheritance.
Powerful intruders had become possessed of those lands ; and
only after many years were they recovered for her sister's
heirs, the Booths of Dunham.
Consider now one moment all it means, this endurance of
one family in unbroken line through seven or eight centuries :
how manifold the contrary chances. It means that, genera-
tion after generation, the right heir is found a man healthy,
vigorous and prudent, prospering in business, fortunate in
1 See the Ancestor, iv. 209.
2 Grelle with a border. See seals of Sir Henry de Trafford, Raines MS. xxv.
ff. 1 1 8, 1 8 1. An imperfect example may also be seen among the Deeds of the
Court of Wards, Box 146 D, No. 8. The coat with a griffin is not found till the
time of Henry VI.
3 See the Ancestor, riii. 87.
8o THE ANCESTOR
marriage, to raise up offspring sound as himself, to live un-
scathed by fate, and to hand down an undiminished patrimony.
In so long a chain of happy accident, it cannot well be
but that, sooner or later, one link will prove weaker than the
rest.
Consider also this strange growth a tree so tall, the main
stem green and luxuriant, yet well nigh bare of branches.
Traffords there are yet of the Swythamley line, though Traf-
fords only on the distaff side. Some early offsets were dis-
guised under other names, such as Chaderton, Chetham,
Stretford, Hulme, and perhaps more. But all the younger
sons of all those later generations where are they ? Those
that founded families can be counted on the fingers of one
hand. John Trafford of Urmston had sons enough ; but his
granddaughter carried Newcroft in marriage to a Werberton.
The three brethren of Prestwich left no heirs. The Traffords
of Garret flourished for a while ; but their inheritance was
parted among sisters about the time that William Trafford,
a second brother of the elder house, became owner of the
monks' grange of Swythamley, and had sons born to him in
his old age. After him John Trafford of Croston, whose heirs
succeeded to Trafford, and the tale is told. 1
These things are not wholly accident. Family tradition,
family policy in the long run will make its influence felt. In
the history of the family we are considering, on one occasion
the normal succession was wilfully broken, when the rightful
heir was disinherited in the interest of Sir Cecil Trafford, a
half brother. Otherwise the deliberate policy of the Traffords
for ages has been to make strict settlements, to secure before
everything the succession of an heir male. From 1205 till far
on in the eighteenth century did Trafford pass from father
to son with but two exceptions, once when a grandson, and
once when a brother carried on the line. Yet ultimately the
weak link was bound to appear. In 1779 Humphrey Trafford
died without issue ; but family tradition prevailed, and his
far off cousin, John Trafford of Croston, was made his heir.
1 A family named Trafford in the eastern counties, I am aware, has long
claimed to belong to this house. Their pedigree, however, though accepted by
the heralds at a visitation of Essex, is nevertheless open to very grave doubts.
At best, though the present representatives have clung to the name, their con-
nection with the old stock is only through a number of female descents, native
and foreign.
THE TRAFFORD LEGEND 81
Thus it is that the founder of the house has yet a successor of
his name and blood.
The lack of branches tells the same tale. Other families
of note have advanced their younger sons till these have often
thrown their elders into the shade. To purchase a rich
marriage was one favourite method of advancement. Two
cadets of Trafford were thus provided for, but in either in-
stance, as it happened, the representation of the family has
since devolved upon the fortunate bridegroom or his heir.
Not one of them has ever risen to eminence or wealth : we
may seek in vain for a statesman or prelate, a judge, or a great
commander of that house. Were they then duller or less
enterprising than their neighbours ? Their success in life, I
believe, was sacrificed to the family policy. For the sake of
the heir his brothers' interests were neglected, their portions
cut down, their energies cramped. They farmed perhaps
some corner of the brother's lands : in penury they nursed
their lonely pride ; or lingering about the old home became
dependants on another's bounty. Either they did not
marry ; or, if they did, their children sank lower in the
social scale. Hence it comes that history knows nothing of
them. 1
But to return, by all means let us try and be fair even to
an old-fashioned maker of pedigrees on vellum. When con-
fronted by a serious difficulty, his attitude is not perhaps that
of the modern critic. If his dates will not bear examination,
they do not profess to be more than estimates. His know-
ledge of history may not have been exact, according to our
standards. But for him were no public libraries, no books of
reference. The public records were hardly accessible. Old
chronicles in manuscript, or the quaint annalists who served
them up in print, would be his best sources of information.
We smile when he promotes his thane to so exalted a position.
Twenty-one personages of peerage rank in a single hundred 1
1 Two held the living of Wilmslow. In one generation they were all given
an estate for life only in small portions of the family property. One nephew
lived and died chaplain at Trafford. There were yeoman and husbandmen of
the name in and near Hellesby, where the Traffords held land ; but these may
have been offshoots of a Cheshire family at Bridge Trafford. Perhaps the most
successful found a career as steward of his brother's Cheshire estate. After
Sir Cecil's time, no doubt, their religion and the penal laws put them at a dis-
advantage.
82 THE ANCESTOR
Why even in the age of Victoria coronets are not so thick as
that upon the ground, unless it be in the hundred that in-
cludes Grosvenor Square. No doubt these things betray a
certain leaning towards the marvellous, a desire also to magnify
his client. But surely we can afford to deal gently with
amiable weaknesses like these ; and keep strong language in
reserve for offenders of a different class.
W. H. B. BIRD.
GEORGICS *
THE name of the ancient house of Gorges has a familiar
sound in the ear of the genealogist-antiquary, not so
much, it may be, by reason of its antiquity as for the remem-
brance of the strange shield of arms of the gorge or whirlpool
with which one line of the family played upon its name. This
whirl of blue and white water decorates the cover of Major
George's history of his family, but we are bound to point out
that the device is here represented as a feeble curve which
recalls the ammonite of geologists rather than the whirlpool
of the armorists, and that the little crest on its full-faced helm
is set in the absurd sidelong position of the Victorian seal-
engravers. To open the book at its frontispiece is discourag-
ing to the reviewer. The figure of a mailed knight which
guards the entrance to this history may indeed be from an eigh-
teenth century sketch of a rubbing : the eighteenth century
* making a draft of an antick figure } was careless of detail, and
the rococo shield of arms, the unlikely sword with its improb-
able belt, and the King Charles spaniel at the knight's feet
may all lie at the door of the eighteenth century artist. But
the shield of arms is not that of any Gorges, and although the
label runs ' Sir Godfrey Gorge, kn 1 ., Pembridge, ob l . Ju y 7,
1301,' the industry of Major George has as yet found no Sir
Godfrey amongst his ancestral figures. But the forefathers
of the author were in Pembridge at the end of the seven-
teenth century, and one of their descendants may well have
adopted a brass emgy^in the church for an ancestor.
More unfortunately does the narrative history begin
THE FAMILY OF GEORGE AND GEORGES. SINCE THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
The progenitor of the above family names now in existence, was a certain
Normandy knight, by name Radulph de Georges (Inter alia, married to a de
Morville, whilst others of the name during a period of 200 years married four of
the family de Morville) who was amongst those historical personages that accom-
panied William, Duke of Normandy, to the conquest of England, on the I4th
of October, 1066.
1 DE GEORGES from Gaurges in the Cotentin, Normandy, 1065. Pedigrees
and History of the Families of George and Gorges. (Privately printed, 1903.)
83
84 THE ANCESTOR
He is named in the * Battel Roll ' of Hastings amongst the 629 surviving
knights of the momentous conflict that took place on that autumn da/ when
Harold II. was defeated with an enormous number of his followers, in the san-
guinary battle which lasted from early morn to nightfall.
Radulph de Georges was one of the 217 knights and gentlemen that re-
mained in this country (and as will appear in the following account, greatly
intermarried amongst themselves) to whom King William I. gave, in return for
their valuable services and loyalty, vast possessions of lands and emoluments.
The construction and even the punctuation of Major
George's history do not make for lucidity, but these opening
sentences offer many points of attack. First of all we may
point out that Major George offers all bearers of the surname
George or Georges a descent from a Norman house, in the be-
lief that all such must spring from a common ancestor, and this
is a heedless generosity. Then for our 4 Radulph de Georges.'
For the existence of this hero Major George can cite no evi-
dence whatever. His fame, it may be, should be evidence
enough, but that fame, insistent in the ears of his descendant,
has not reached our own. Spell the c Battel Roll ' as quaintly
as we may, we shall not add to its authenticity. ' Radulph's '
marriage with a Morville must also rest upon the family re-
collection of the ceremony, and for his vast possessions in lands
and emoluments Domesday is not called to witness. * His-
torical personages,' as Major George has it, accompanied Duke
William in great number, but the duke's success at Hastings
is easily explained when we consider the mighty throng of
unhistorical personages who came with him to be ancestors of
the peerage and the landed gentry. With this arriere ban
Radulph must be allowed to take his place until more proof
may be found for him.
The descendants of Radulph * scattered themselves over
various parts of England,' eluding their descendant's every
attempt to catch and identify them. Major George deplores
the want of education of these earlier ages, and especially their
careless spelling, a fault which their illiterate cunning per-
suades them to cloak with the use of Latin in documents, to
the manifest annoyance of Major George, whose earlier notes
are presented in this wise :
Note. Anno, 1221 Dominom Georgium de Georges mentioned with
Humfredo Bowne Comite Hereforde & Rogero Mortimer, Domino de
Chicke, with regard to the villain de Kardyf (Cardiff) and mentioned as a
great soldier, and Governor of Cardiff Castle.
GEORGICS 85
With Ives de Gorges and Thomas de Gorges living in
the reign of Henry III. Major George should be on surer
ground, but his method of setting down the many notes he
has collected concerning his surname is a bewilderment to the
reader and authorities and references are seldom quoted.
Here at least arises a family which for some generations had its
share in history. Ralph de Gorges was at Carlaverock clad in
a coat mascle de or e de asur, and he was summoned to Parlia-
ment as a baron under Edward II. This baron's son Ralph
died without issue, and a daughter who had married a Russel
carried name and arms to her husband's family. The history
of the house cannot be said to be illuminated by Major
George's researches. Scrappy notes from documents in a
language unfamiliar to the author, and in a handwriting ob-
scure to him, make a confused history too difficult to follow.
For an example of Major George's transcription of documents
we may quote one of his many lists of witnesses amongst whom
a Gorges is found. Of Ralph de Gorges he writes :
1320. He is a witness with others to a charter granted by Edward II., 17
February, made to the Burgesses of Bristol, it is signed by the king and wit-
nessed at Gloucester. These are the actual signatories. It will be seen that
within three years of his death he signed his name as Georges and not Gorge.
Bfcmun&o, comtto leant'
Jobanne &e JSrittaine
Comlte TRicbmonD
BDmonDo comite Stun&el'
ttbom a tUahc
jobanne &e Sancto 3obannc J>e SSasetng
Rafculpbus &e Gcoracs
Otibcrto petebag (scnescballo bospttti nostrt)
We may well doubt whether Major George can ever have
seen an original document of the medieval period. His belief
that Edward 1 1. signed his name to this charter or to any other
charter shows that to Major George the picture in Mangnall
or Mrs. Markham of King John writing John R. at
the foot of Magna Carta with a long swan quill presents no
difficulty. The tale of * Georges ' and * Gorges ' illustrates
the prepossession of our author with the idea that the name
of the medieval family was generally written Georges and not,
as common experience shows, Gorges. It will be seen that
Ralph is allowed alone amongst the witnesses to break the
syntax of the attesting clause by keeping his name in the nomi-
86 THE ANCESTOR
native case. The arrangement of the names show that*Major
George is unaware that John of Brittany was the Earl of Rich-
mond, who is here given a line to himself ; and we may add
whilst the list is before us, that ' Thorn a Wake ' should take
the less colloquial form of ' Thoma Wake,' and that the name
of Gilbert the Steward should be Petchey or Peche, and not
Petehey.
Another example which will show the extreme inadvisa-
bleness of following Major George as a genealogist in the
medieval period here follows :
1290, Sept. 1 8. Commission of oyer and terminer to Nicholas de Segrave
the elder ... on complaint by William, Abbot of Marivale, that Ralph de
Georges, Robert de Everesdon, William le Messer of Dunton, Robert de
Mere, Thomas Curteys, Richard Matheu, etc., cut down and carried away the
said Abbot's trees in his wood at Dunton, and took away his sheep from his fold
at Rulowe, co. Warwick.
(Note. The * William le messer of Dunton ' above mentioned is the son
of Sir Ralph and Joane who were of Dunton, he would be a half brother of
this Sir Ralph de Georges.)
No reference is given for this document, but we can easily
identify it with an entry in a patent roll of 18 Edward I.
Marivale should be Murivale, and we discover that Major
George sustains his theory that Georges is the usual form of
the surname in early times by deliberately doctoring Gorges
into Georges wherever he finds it. This patent rofl, for in-
stance, has the name plainly Gorges in the original. But
worse than this is the reckless guess of the note. Reading
between the lines an antiquary will see that Ralph de Gorges
is associated in the abbot's plea with the servants who cut wood
and drove sheep under his orders. William ' le messer ' of
Dunton is of course Ralph's mower or harvester, the word
' messer ' bearing no other translation. Yet this yokel is pre-
sented us as the brother of his master, a great baron of the land,
for reasons which to Major George are so apparent that he
sees no need to refer us to them.
A William de Georges, who may have been identical with
a William, brother of Ralph de Gorges, living in 1307, is
said to have married first one of the Hydes of Pymperne in
Gloucestershire, ancestors according to Major George of
the famous Lord Clarendon, ' whose daughter Lady Jane
(sic) married James II.' With his second wife, a Peny-
ton, he is said to have acquired the manor of Baunton,
GEORGICS 87
and to have founded the old family of Georges, lords
of Baunton until its sale by William George who died
in 1707. An old family, and conscious of the fact, they
were ready in the person of Robert George, unjustly cut off
from the succession, to declare in 1727 that their Gloucester-
shire land had been enjoyed by them ' between five and six
hundred years.' Gentlemen and squires, they were famous in
Cirencester, which one of them garrisoned for the Parliament,
and it may be mentioned here that they possessed an oak chest
with their arms and letters, one of the most delightful of its
kind. It is now owned by the town of Cirencester, and its
date of 1539 is misread by Major George as 1537. Of this
family we have wills and inquests and other evidences by which
we may follow the main line at least, although the marriage
of Gyles George in the fifteenth century to * a Miss Swayne
of Bristol ' makes us feel that Major George is not yet at a
period in which he may be at ease.
From a branch of this family Major George claims descent.
So far as* we may follow his methods his proof is as follows.
A Robert George is son to John George, a younger son of
George of Baunton. He died in 1623, according to Major
George, who confuses him with a cousin. Two of his sons,
John and William, are squires in rank and men of good and
ascertained position.
Major George produces for us another son, Samuel George.
This Samuel is said to have been born at Baunton on 3. July
1597, and a search for the proof of this fact shows that to
Major George a parish register entry of a christening is an
entry of the date of birth and an entry of a burial one of
a death date. The other facts which Major George has col-
lected concerning him are as follows :
He married and had with other issue
I. Samuel.
II. Philip George of Twyford, Eardisland, co. Hereford.
From this Philip George the descent of Major George through
Herefordshire yeomen, Bristol distillers and bankers, and sol-
diers at the last, seems clear enough.
But will it be believed that this alleged younger son of a
family of Gloucestershire squires is carried across country to
Herefordshire to account for the presence in Eardisland of a
family of George which the calendar of wills at Hereford show
to have been at Eardisland by 1571 at the latest. A younger
88 THE ANCESTOR
son, too, who at the last visitation of Gloucestershire was
returned as having died unmarried. There can be little
doubt that we have here a pedigree which will not stand
against facts and dates a genealogy which should be nailed
to the counter.
At this noteworthy point we leave Major George's re-
searches. Before publishing a second edition of his book he
will do well to give some attention to these details. His whole
attitude of mind saves him from any suspicion of tampering
with the evidences before him, but that he should see no diffi-
culty here in his attempt to find ancestors in an historic family
is characteristic of a school of genealogists which ought not
to have survived the credulous century behind us.
In the new edition of his book Major George might well
abandon the remarkable synopsis of English history which fills
several pages of what is already a heavy book, a synopsis which
tells us that the language of the English under Henry I. was
Normanty, that the House of Commons was ' practically estab-
lished by the nobles selling land to commoners in consequence
of the crusades/ and that printing was invented in the reign of
Henry VII. It is difficult to say why Major George should
set down faulty spelling as one of the special characteristics of
the reign of Richard III., but it is in any case an ungenerous
reproach from an archaeological writer who has so much iden-
tified himself with his subject that his own spelling does not
follow the cramped rules of the moderns.
Major George's industry has been so great that no searcher
for notes of the Georges or Gorges families can afford to
neglect the mass of his collections. It is sad that such industry
should have given us in the end, through mere carelessness in
the setting down, so little sound fact in which we may put
trust. Such books as this almost persuade us that a genea-
logist should consign pitilessly to the fire the first years of his
note-books, to begin work again in the light of his hardly won
experience.
O. B.
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH
THE sixteenth century saw the history of the Gordons
begun by Giovanni Ferreri, a monk who had exchanged
Piedmont for Paris and Paris for Kinloss in Morayshire.
Tooting is to-day more near and neighbourly to Ballarat
than was Piedmont to Kinloss in 1545, but this travelled
monk took kindly to his new quarters, munched his bannock
in content, and after seventeen years in Morayshire wrote
down upon a very few sheets of paper the history of the
ancestors of his patron the Earl of Huntly. For this history
he read all the Scottish annals and chronicles which he could
come by in the Latin, for he boggled at the Scots vernacular,
although Master William Gordon, the good earl's secretary,
aided him with an outline of the story written in the Moray-
shire idiom.
Much manuscript and printed matter has followed the
essay of Ferrerius, but as we learn from the preface to the
first volume of the New Spalding Club's House of Gordon that
there have been no less than one hundred and fifty-seven
* chief branches ' descended from the elder or northern
Gordons alone, it would seem that the twentieth century
will be far on its way before the definitive history of the house
and name may be achieved.
The great Scottish families are at last admitting the modern
spirit of wholesome doubt to the chronicle books of their
ancestors. In older days the Gordons would have chosen
their first forefather from some ancient king with a Latin
name for all proof of his living and reigning, from a duke of
Florence, a Roman patrician or Hungarian magnate. But
Captain Swinton, who would claim the hundred and fifty-
seven chief branches of Gordon for a substantial addition to
the cadets of Swinton is found asking whether any human
being of the name of Gordon can be found in Scotland before
1 200, and his challenge has never been taken up.
Sir Adam Gordon who had Strathbogie in 1319 is taken
by the editor of the House of Gordon as the first Gordon with
a record to his name. By that name he should have come
89
90 THE ANCESTOR
from the south, and it is a significant fact, which the editor
does not note in his preface, that this rare name of Adam
was a recurrent one with our own thirteenth century house
of the Gurdons of Hampshire.
From Adam Gordon of Strathbogie the records of the
main lines seem to run clearly and from this their first
beginning the name spreads itself about Scotland. The
elder son had the northern estates and the younger the
lands in the south. In the fourth generation from Adam
a more notable parting began. John Gordon, grandson of
Adam, had two sons. Sir Adam Gordon, the younger of the
two, fell to the English bow at Homildon Hill and left a
daughter and heir, Elizabeth, who married a Seton from the
border. Sir John the elder brother was followed by Jock
Gordon of Scurdargue, and Thorn Gordon of Ruthven, his
bastard sons by ' Elizabeth Cruickshank, Aswanlie's daughter.'
Thus we see that the Gordons of the north are for the half
of them of bastard origin and for the other half cadets of
Seton, for Elizabeth Gordon's descendants bore her name and
arms. That the forefathers of the proud stomached lairds
who swarmed in Aberdeen, Banff, Moray and Sutherland
should have been begotten the wrong side of the blanket
was a fact which sorely exercised the minds of the earlier
historians of the race, and the maker of the Balbithan MS.
sets forward as a cogent argument for the legitimacy of Jock
and Thorn the fact that the arms of Sir John suffered no
brisure for bastardy in the generations which followed him.
Its answered their Legitimacy was owned in so far as Jock and Thorn and
their posterity to this hour were allowed to bear and keep in their publique En-
signs and Coats of Arms, upon all publick and private occasions, the bare and
simple Arms their father and all the Family of Huntly had used from their
first arise in Scotland till then ; without any addition or alteration, far less any
mark of Bastardie ; and to be sure the office of herauldrie and giving out Coats
of Arms and bestowing other such honours was the King's province the fountain
of all honour, who very well knew how to bestow honours on such as were worthy
and deserving of them, and if any should take upon them to assume to them-
selves such Coats of Arms as they deserved not, they were severely handled by
authority for their presumption, and if there was any blot in their birth be sure
it was insert in their Scutcheon, and there were narrow Inquiry of this taken
by the King and others he employed for that purpose.
We have here a curious instance of that faith in the heraldry
books so often found in seventeenth century writers, a faith
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 91
which certain followers of the heraldic cult would fain revive
amongst us. But here if ever we have proof that faith is
indeed * that quality which enables us to believe things which
we know to be untrue.' We may pardon the archaeology
which imagined the medieval king as the deviser and only
ordainer of the arms which should figure on the shields and
on the seals of the remotest of his gentle subjects, seeing that
such archaeology has weathered the nineteenth century.
But that a Scots gentleman, well learned in the armory of
his fellows, should believe that illegitimacy in Scotland left
indelible marks upon the shields of misbegotten houses is
nothing less than amazing. One may ask whether the author
of the Balbithan MS. had ever seen the shield of the earls of
Douglas, sprung from Archibald the grim, the bastard off-
spring of a nameless mother, or the shield of Douglas of Drum-
lanrig which not only bore the arms of Douglas without a
' blot,' but quartered with it the whole arms of Mar, as though
bastardy barred no whit of an armorial inheritance. Even
in the shield of the Douglas earls of Angus, a line whose origin
was at once illegitimate and incestuous, the pious student of
the heraldry folios might search in vain for * marks of Bastardie.'
The story of Adam Gordon and Elizabeth Cruickshank is
no sooner told than the Balbithan MS. takes us a step further
to a new scandal which must be arranged before the legitimate
chief of Jock's descendants can have his proper precedence.
The lairds of Buckie and Pitlurg are provided with matter
for argument in the fact that Jock's eldest son Alexander,
from whom the house of Buckie descends, although the son
of a daughter of Macleod of Harris, was not born in wedlock.
In this new dispute the Balbithan author takes the side of
Pitlurg, but deplores these ' nice and frivolous intestine
debates amongst friends.' The English genealogist is amazed
amongst these * debates ' by the absence of any appeal to
parchment and paper, Pitlurg being ready to draw upon Buckie
with a tradition for all support at his back, and Buckie for his
part * expressing himself very modestly and mannerly ' in
defence of the honour of his ancestress, being content to
wonder * how Jock in point of good manners could or was
safe to get her with child and not marry her.' But the
Scottish genealogist who would take his researches into the
medieval period is fortunate if he can but light upon ancient
tradition.
92 THE ANCESTOR
The present volume contains a bibliography of Gordon
genealogy from MSS. and printed works, a copy of the Bal-
bithan MS., histories of the Gordons of Abergeldie, Coclara-
chie and Gight, and lists of Gordons served as heirs, Gordons
who were pollable persons in Aberdeenshire in 1696, Gordons
at Scottish universities, Gordons, members of parliament,
and Gordons, writers to the signet.
Abergeldie is the senior cadet of Huntly. The lands were
gotten by Alexander the first earl for his service against the
Douglas, and his second son Sir Alexander held them by a
deed of gift from James III. Since that day the lands have
descended from father to son or from brother to brother.
The estate marches with the royal estate of Balmoral, and
King Edward VII is tenant under a lease from the present
laird of Abergeldie. The third laird was. killed at Pinkie in
1547, and the sixth meddled with a Spanish plot after all
Spanish hopes had been scattered with the Armada. The
house has bred many soldiers and sailors of distinction and
its history in the wars is brought down to the war in South
Africa, where more than one of its cadets was in the field.
Abergeldie is of the Seton-Gordons. Coclarachie, the
subject of the second treatise, claims descent from Jock Gordon
of Scurdargue, the first Gordon of Coclarachie getting lands
there by marriage with Elizabeth Winton. The record of
this branch may be called a peaceful one, for but one laird of
Coclarachie died a violent death, George Gordon who was
beheaded at Aberdeen in 1562. Fora more stirring history
we must go on to the marvellous record of the Gordons of
Gight.
Gight in Fyvie is said by philologists to carry the meaning
of a windy place, and an east wind seems to blow through
all its uneasy history. Sir William Gordon was founder of
the house, a son of George, Earl of Huntly, by the lady Annabel
of Scotland. He went with his brothers Huntly and Sir Adam
to Flodden field, and at the day's end was taken up dead.
From his second son James came Colonel John Gordon, who
helped slay Wallenstein, and the story of his daughters and
their descendants makes a fine background for the deeds of
the male line. Barbara Gordon married John Grant of
Ballindalloch, who was murdered in 1559 by John Roy Grant
of Carron, a left-handed man wearing * a coat of armour or
maillie coat.' A deadly feud was thus briskly begun and
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 93
seventy-one years afterward a Grant of Ballindalloch takes
satisfaction by killing a Grant of Carron. As this avenging
Ballindalloch was a left-handed man and as moreover he was
wearing the original maillie coat which had protected his
great-grandfather's slayer, Sir Robert Gordon, who tells the
story in his Earls of Sutherland, sees in the whole tale a hand-
some instance of God's providence and judgements. Another
daughter married James Innes of Rathmakenzie, who was
killed at Pinkie, and by him had Alexander Innes of Crombie,
whom his kinsman and familiar enemy Innes of Invermarkie
drew from his safe lodging at Aberdeen by crying for help in
the night and feigning a fit outside his door. A shot and a
dozen dirk wounds paid Crombie for his soft-hearted folly.
The second laird of Gight died in his bed, but his ' crewale
invassion of William Con of Auchry and hurting and wounding
him in divers parts of his body to the great effusion of his
blude ' shows us that he was not lacking in spirit. The third
laird rode with Edom o' Gordon to the burning of the house
of Towie, and the avenging Forbeses slew him at the ferry
of Dundee. His wife was a bastard daughter of the Cardinal
Beaton, who was murdered in 1546. She married Edom
o' Gordon's brother, and the battle of Glenlivat made her a
widow for the second time. The daughter and heir of this
couple wedded with Hume, Earl of Dunbar, whose sudden end
was set down to poison.
John Gordon of Adiell, a son of the first laird, succeeded
to Gight. In his day began a feud with the Keiths, and John
of Gight was at the killings of John Keith of Cryallie and
John Keith of Clachriach. The king sought his presence at
court for the killing of the ' Earle of Marches kinsman,' but
Huntly stood by his kinsman and answered the king stoutly
that he himself would come to Edinburgh with Gight * if
hee might bring his frinds and forces with him otherwise not.'
The manner of his death is uncertain, but it seems probable
that at the age of eighty and more he fell at the battle of
Balrinnes in 1594. Amongst his hopeful brood the old
traditions of the house do not suffer. His sons were William,
John, Alexander and George. William and John shared in
the killing of the bonny Earl of Moray, and the latter was left
for dead at Donibristle, his hat, money and weapons being
taken away by his thrifty kinsmen. Moray's own mother
took him into her house, cherished him with meat and drink,
G
94 THE ANCESTOR
and saved him alive for the gallows of Edinburgh, where he
suffered with his serving man. Alexander was a soldier
against the Spaniards, colonel of a Scots regiment in the low
countries and governor of Bergen op Zoom. In an evil day
he left the comparative security of the Netherlands battle-
fields and came home to visit" his friends. ' Some evil willers
secretlie layd ane ambush ' for him and the colonel's military
career was at an end. Of George little is known, but that
he was killed, and that most probably at Haarlem in Holland.
Of the daughters Margaret married Alexander Chalmers of
Strichen, whose stepfather her brother slew, and bred a son
who was at the killing of the Earl of Moray ; whilst Catherine
married Keith of Clachriach, whom her brother William
murdered, and her son joined her nephew Gordon of Ardlogie
in a bloody feud with Leask of Leask.
The Gordons were ever ' the gay Gordons ' in ballad and
legend. The fifth laird was a Gordon by father and mother,
and his career and the career of the sons and grandsons who
followed him will serve to illustrate for us the dominant
gaiety of his house. Before coming to his lairdship of Gight
William Gordon had given his proofs. The killing of William
Leslie his kinsman was but a regrettable mishap, Leslie
having foolishly thrust himself forward whilst Gordon was
attempting the life of Troup of Begshall, but the murder of
Thomas Eraser of Strichen, his sister's stepfather, whom
Gordon slew with a sword on the bridge of Ugie, was a more
straightforward business. His feud with the Keiths was
famous and bloody, and endured for ten years' space, and
after he had come at last to the lairdship of Gight. In 1597
we have a glimpse of the home life of Gight. A certain James
Hog, seeking two mares stolen from him, found the said
mares together with a stolen grey horse gangand and pastur-
ant,' upon the Gight meadows, and was even so ill advised as
to ask for their surrender. At such an outrageous demand
the gay Gordons came out of Gight like angry bees, with
* hagbuts, pistolets, jacks, steelbonnets, swords, gauntlets and
other weapons ' they pursued Hog and his friends, wounding
them in divers parts of their bodies. It goes without saying
that the laird's instinct for gaiety carried him to the affair
of the Earl of Moray, and he is credited with being the man
who slew the bonny earl ' among the rocks of the sea ' with
three pistol bullets in his bowels. It must not be supposed
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 95
that the law of Scotland held its peace throughout these do-
ings, for the price of one of the laird's murders was assessed
at a fine of five thousand merks Scots, although we have no
record of the laird's discharging that moderate penalty. And
Gordon of Gight is more than once * put to the horn,' but
with that harmless ceremony which might be safely performed
at Edinburgh Cross the law seems to have contented itself.
In 1 5 96 the General Assembly of the Kirk orders his arrest,
yet in 1597 he is admitted a burgess of Aberdeen, and his
ordered life goes on as though the General Assembly were
as little regarded in Gight as a distant parliament of rooks.
The Keiths were doubtless a poor spirited race, easily
weary with a ten years' feud, and Gight in 1601 began a new
feud with the Hays and the Mowats. With George Gordon
in Bridgend the laird of Gight in 1601 rode to the lands of
Mowat of Balquholie with twenty horsemen armed with
hagbuts, pistolets, swords and lances. Mowat's corn was
trampled down and his servants wounded. The visit was
renewed the next day when no less than three hundred of
Gight's friends and wellwishers with spear in hand and steel
bonnet on brow rode over and athwart the growing corn of
Balquholie.
In September of the same year one Alexander Chalmer, a
messenger of court, was so foolhardy as to appear at Gight to
' execute letters ' against the laird, who, mazed by his reck-
lessness, allowed him to go away in a whole skin. But those
who supped Gight's porridge were more jealous for the
house's honour, and Chalmer was pursued and brought back.
The laird, who had perhaps misunderstood the nature of the
written letters in his hands was now properly roused to a
sense of Chalmer's enormity and at first sight of the messenger
would have shot him with one of those * pistolets ' which seem
at this time to have made the principal part of a Gordon's
costume.
He then hurlit him within his hall, tuik the copyis [of the letters] kaist them
in a dische of bree [and forced the messenger] to sup and swallow thame, held
ane drawne dagger foiranent his hairt, avowing with mony horrible and blas-
hemous aithis to have thrust the dagger throw his hairt gif he had not suppit
he saidis copyis.
The wretched Chalmer what fee could have tempted
him on such an errand ? swallowed the copies ' for feir and
96 THE ANCESTOR
saulftie of his life.' Gight was made rebel for that day's
work and Huntly his chief was ordered to bring him ' quick
or deid ' to the king and his council ; but rebel, or no rebel,
Gordon bides safe at Gight. In the same year the laird led a
raid upon Turriff, whither he came with his three sons and
many another Gordon, oppressing ' the haill toun ' with
long guns, spears and pistolets. William Duffus was drawn
forth from bed in his sark and fled away for fear of his life, shot
at * with pistolettis, muscattis and hacquebuttis.' A ' muscat,'
better aimed than the others, brought him down, and being
loaded in generous fashion, lodged nine bullets in divers parts
of his body, and his pitiful complaint to the privy council
describes him as ' in sic danger of his life as na man knawis
quhat hour he shall die.'
After this last wickedness Gight crossed the border and
abode for a while beyond the reach of the council's feeble
claws, but he was soon at home again and undisturbed by the
king's writs, for the good reason that Gight was ' the onley
prinsepall man of the Earle of Huntleyes howes,' and of
Huntly Sir John Carey writes that f there is no man living
in Scotland with more power to harm his majesty the king.'
In his very death Gight was at strokes with the law, for not-
withstanding the act against superstitious and popish rites,
one George Crawford bore a crucifix upon a spear immediately
before the corpse the whole way to the place of burial. The
naked spear alone might have made a better symbol before
the body of the laird of Gight.
The cadets of the fifth laird were another worthy brood.
John of Ardlogie, the second son, was in the Turriff raid and
made a name for himself as leader of certain deboshed and law-
less limmers calling themselves the ' Societie and Companie of
Boyis,' whom zeal for the Romish religion drove about the
country side lifting the goods of such neighbours as were in
spiritual darkness. Ardlogie raided and was raided by Mowat
of Balquholly, made private war on Leask of Kelly, his brother's
father-in-law, and was concerned in the murder of Francis
Hay. With his brother and his sister's son he raided the
lands of Sir William Keith of Balmuir, who being a ' civile
obedient and ansuerable subject,' stayed cannily in his house
when Ardlogie rode sword in hand up and down his green,
provoking him to come forth and shouting his barbarous
slogan of ' Up thy hairt, Ardlogie ! ' When the King of
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 97
Denmark raised levies of volunteers in Scotland Ardlogie
took ' a charge ' in Sinclair of Merkill's regiment and pocketed
the Dane's money for taking his men towards Germany. The
money was a good gift easily come by, and Ardlogie never saw
Germany until in later years, after he had shared in the
Huntly Gordons' vengeance on Frendraught, he fled there in
peril of his neck, never to see Scotland again. Ardlogie's sons
were Adam, John, Nathaniel and George. Adam followed
the sixth laird in his raids, and on a visit to Paris was run through
the body by a brother Scot whom when * wery drunk ' he was
pursuing in the open street. John was in the Frendraught
raid, and was the murderer of Sergeant Forsyth of Fothering-
ham's musketeers. Nathaniel was a cavalier soldier at home
and abroad, a Faublas in jackboots whose exploits in love and
war are waiting for a chronicler. George Gordon, youngest
of the Ardlogie litter, has a reasonable claim to be considered
as the George Gordon who attacked two brothers Ferguson
on a Sunday in 1622, killing one and cutting the ear from the
corpse and following the other to slash away ( ane grite peece
of his harne pane.' The fifth laird's third son William was in
the Turriff raid and, mayhap, was killed therein. Patrick the
fourth son made a fair record. With his brother Adam he
warred with Bannerman of Waterton.' He raided the Hays
and Leask. In 1617 the privy council desired him to leave the
country, but we do not hear of him as a traveller. He gave
George Thomson, who was riding with the king's warrant in
his pocket, * cruel and deadlie straiks ' with his pistol butt.
For his bastard son William he had chosen a bride, Margaret
Cushnie, whose maiden affections were set on Richard Gordon
who had earned some local fame by ' the fellown and cruell
slaughter of John Johnston.' Patrick Gordon's men came
down upon the Cushnies and carried Margaret away on a horse
behind a trooper. Margaret escaped to marry Richard, who
taken and wounded in an ambush by Gight's men, killed
Patrick with his own favourite weapon, the ' pistolett.' The
names of two or three of Patrick's sons are preserved in the
criminal records of the countryside. Adam, fifth son of
Gight, a raider and rider with * bent hagbut ' and drawn
sword, fell to the pistol of his comrade Francis Hay of Logie-
rieve, who shot him in pique after a friendly brawl with swords.
Alexander, the sixth son, gives us a taste of his quality in his
visit to the house of Mr. John Mersair, l a harmless, innocent
98 THE ANCESTOR
minister.' Alexander and his friends broke the doors, slashed
the minister's horse with their swords, held cocked pistols in
at the windows to shoot him on sight and were firing the
house over him when help came up. Robert, the seventh son,
was in the Hay and Leask raids and concerned in the hanging
of a Frendraught tenant at Strathbogie. From the fifth
laird's daughters we choose Elspet for notice. She wedded
with James Cheyne of Pennan, and the worthy pair raided
together in their neighbours' barns and fowl-houses. One
Petrie, who besought Gight's highspirited daughter to
' forbeir such unseamelie forme of doing,' brought her wrath
upon himself, for the lady of Pennan ' put violent hand on
him and schamefullie and unhonnestlie strak and dang him
with her handis and feit in sindrie pairtis of his body and
left him for deid.'
We come to George Gordon, sixth laird of Gight. Never
were the family traditions more safe than in his hands. He
thought it a * cryme unpardonable in the person of any of his rank
or within to resset or schaw favour to ony person aganis whome
he beiris querrell,' and his life was ordered within the bounds
of this simple creed. In 1593 he was denounced as a rebel,
and in 1610 he earns from the bishop of Moray a remarkable
certificate that he was ' a great furderar and favourer of
peace.' The privy council removed in some measure this
slur upon the good name of Gight by describing him as { a
most rebellious and disobedient person, who by a concourse
of a nombir of odious crymes, made himself in a kynd eminent
above offendaris of the heiehest degree.' He was deeply
religious, following the creed which would most conflict with
the law his enemy, and declaring his profession ' quhilk is
Catholick Romane.' His feud with the Hays is remarkable
amongst these diversions of the countryside for its fierceness.
It will be remembered that Gight's brother Adam had come
to his end before Francis Hay's pistol. This Francis Hay
was within three days' space carried away by Gight and his
following to their lodging at the Bonny Wife's Inn in the
Gallowgate of Aberdeen, whence the Gordons had the au-
dacity to issue letters to their kin and friends inviting them to
his trial. Many barons and gentlemen in arms answered his
summons, and the wretched Hay was condemned in a packed
court by the sheriff-deputy of Aberdeen, who was, it goes
without saying, a gentleman of the Gordon name. The
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 99
doomed man was led out of a back door to * a hoill betuix tua
mottis quhair they crowned thair tragidie with so butcherly-
mangling the poore gentilman with sex severall straikes upoun
his shoulderis, hind head and neck, as the lyke hes nevir or
seldome bene sene or hard.' A raid followed upon the Hays
of Brunthill, who had sheltered poor Francis Hay, and in this
Gight fell upon and all but slew George Hay who had come
out unarmed from his house to parley with the raiders. It
is amazing to read that Gight was still beyond the law. Privy
council and king strove in vain to bring him and his to justice,
but in the end the king was content to make Gight and the
Hays ' chop hands ' together in a truce which was soon broken.
Gight's next achievement is more domestic in its nature.
His wife's mother, the old lady Saltoun, lying at point of
death, made a will which was not to his liking. Gight rode
at once to meet Patrick Livingstone who had drawn this will,
and remonstrated with him in his best manner, ' protesting
and avowing with mony horrible aithes that he sould stryk
ane daigger to the said Patrickis hairt and that he sould cleive
him to the harne pane unles he causit the said testament ather
to be nullit or reformit to his contentment.' Out of this
matter, Patrick and his brother came hardly with their lives,
Gight raging against them like a mad dog, but the lady
Saltoun's money was lost to the Gordons. Sir Harry Wood
of Bonnyton, Gight's brother-in-law, was the next victim.
This blameless man was sitting in the parish kirk of St. Vigean's
' in his awne dask, in a very modest and quyet maner,' when
into the kirk rushed Gight with his wolfish clan at his back,
* all bodin in fear of wear, with swords, long dagours, bufrell
coites, secreitts, plait sleives, steil hattis, with plait stringis,
gantelitts ' and the like. Sword in hand they rushed up the
kirk oversetting the women and children at prayer and took
Bonnyton prisoner with shouts of * Traitour be tane.' Sir
Harry was hurried to his own house of Lethem and with
dirks at his throat made to sign a bond unread, a bond ' con-
taining diverse gritt soumes of money and uther hard condi-
tions.' Wonderful to relate, this business was brought home
to the laird, from whom a small fine was drawn in quittance
of the affair.
In 1623 we hear of Gight having swindled * a poore
strangear ' a Frenchwoman, a governess and teacher to his
daughter, of her fee and charges spent during several years
ioo THE ANCESTOR
in bringing up the young lady. In 1631 he attacked Mr.
William Murray in the kirk of Monfuthe after sermon time,
and in the same year he raised an armed gang to kill John
Leith of Harthill. In 1639 he was ' m tne Turriff raid. In
1640 the chapter of Gight's offences is closed. One Captain
Betoun took him a prisoner as a papist and outstander against
the good cause, and we have here to our wonder the description
of this ruffian as * a seiklie tender man.' In November 1640
* old Geicht ' died in ward in Edinburgh, and a captain and
thirty-two soldiers rode to Gight and took the surrender of
the house. Of the sixth laird's younger sons John rode raiding
with his nephew the eighth laird, and Alexander shames his
family by having no specific villainy recorded against his
name.
George Gordon, the seventh laird of Gight, was ' a young
boy ' in 1618 when he followed his father in the attack upon
Patrick Livingstone, upon whom he ' bent' his pistol with intent
to kill. It will be noted that the pistol and the hagbut were
weapons which no private man could carry lawfully, but in the
house of Gight they were familiar wear from the cradle. His
violence had some legitimate outlet in the service of King
Charles, for whom he raised and led a troop of horse and com-
pany of foot. In 1 640 he was taken prisoner in Old Aberdeen,
lying in his naked bed, but a Gordon of Gight was slippery to
hold and tricking his mounted captors he fled away from them
by his own speed of foot and went over sea to Germany, where
he must have had many pleasant tales of the home life of Gight
to tell to his kinsman Colonel John Gordon, the assassin of Wal-
lenstein. In 1642 King Charles gave him a passport and letter
of recommendation, which letters style Gight * this excellent
man.' He was home again in 1643 and in 1644 took free
quarters in Banff, carrying away with him the money in the
possession of the collectors of taxes. The same year saw his
house of Gight surrendered to the Covenanters and he himself
taken prisoner to Aberdeen, where he broke prison. About
1648 he died.
His son George, the eighth laird, made a stout attempt
to rob his own father of his lands, whilst the father was wander-
ing abroad in Germany. In 1644 he led a band of cavaliers
to Montrose, where they took the provost prisoner and made
great plunder, but a few days after old Gight the father had
plundered Banff. When the father surrendered his house in
THE COCKS OF THE NORTH 101
the May of 1644, young Gight leapt the park dykes on horse-
back and got safely away. In 1645 he was wounded at Alford.
The good old days of rugging and reiving pass away at
last, and we have a ninth laird of Gight, of whom we can but
say that he was a Commissioner of Supply. His only child, a
daughter Mary, married Alexander Davidson, younger of
Newton, of a family of advocates in Aberdeen. Alexander,
fourth son of the marriage, became Alexander Gordon of
Gight. He was drowned in the river Ythan whilst taking,
amongst the melted snow on a January day, a bath which
Mr. Bulloch would qualify as suicide. We are not concerned
to defend the family honour of these degenerate Davidson
lairds, but the obituary notice which described Gight as ' an
honest, inoffensive gentleman ' could hardly have recom-
mended him to the shades of his mother's forefathers. With
his son George the male line is again broken. This George
was a melancholy creature, and of his drowning himself in
the Bath canal there seems little doubt. His eldest daughter
succeeded to Gight. A ' stout, dumpy, coarse looking woman,'
the Aberdeenshire heiress figured at Bath, and met and, to
her sorrow, married the Honourable John Byron, a handsome
bankrupt. Gight was sold in 1787, and its hernes flew over to
Haddo, that the prophecy of Thomas the Rymer might be
fulfilled. The last lady of Gight died alone at Newstead in
1811 in a fit of rage over an upholsterer's bill, and her son the
poet, who had vilified her in her life, mourned her in death
with the mourning of an ingrained poseur.
It is possible that this record of this house of Gight may
furnish pleasant material for the maker of romances. In
skilled hands the savagery of the story might be softened to
reckless adventure, but to the historian who must not pick
and choose it is a chronicle of unrelieved brutality. A laird
of Gight falls at Flodden for his country, and more than one
Gordon of this house finds a plunderer's life under the banner
of King Charles his best refuge from the Covenanters who
have no love for the Gordons. Yet, when all is told, these
Gordons of Gight are men without a fatherland, the enemies of
their countrymen, of their neighbours, and of their kinsfolk.
They are thieves without acquiring the honour of thieves.
In their rustic wars they fall in force upon lonely men, upon
unarmed men, upon women and children. Of fair fight we
hear little, but much of assassination and cowardly waylaying.
102 THE ANCESTOR
They defy king and council, but king and council are weak,
and Huntly and a confederation of rogues in rusty plates are
at hand to back their impudent defiance.
Her remote descent from such ancestors as these moved
poor provincial Mrs. Byron to furious boasting and con-
temning of the southern nobility. But although there should
be something of sadness in the end of an old line, and the sale
of its rooftree, we feel little of it in reading the story of
Gight. That the headship of such a race should be carried
by a lass to the dismal Davidsons and that Gordon of Gight
should end with a tawdry scold is but a seemly reaction from
the blood and dirt of the earlier history.
O. B.
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN !
IN every craft the style is the man. The genealogist must
acknowledge it equally with those who practise the sister
arts of romance writing and public advertisement. As Gilbert
Clay, the headsman, explained to Annie Protheroe in a certain
Bab Ballad, * famous operators vary very much in touch.'
A clean review-copy of a genealogical study singular in its
novelty ofj treatment sets us recalling the accredited styles
which most obtain.
It is our deliberate belief that the grand staccato manner of
the school of Leipsic, as shown in the Almanack de Gotha,
alone maintains the nobility of the continent in its privileges.
On the day when Herr Justus Perthes adopts a more collo-
quial style, on that day we are persuaded that Herren Bebel
and Liebknecht will break into the spence and turn adrift the
mediatized princedoms and the countships entitled to the
addition of erlaucht. The Almanack de Gotha is the imperial
Tokay of the peerage books, and old Tokay, unlike Mr. Swi-
veller's beer, may be tasted in sips
DUDELSACKPFEIFERSHAUSEN.
Reformed chateau de Hohenpfeifersheim pres Hamelin Ancienne maison
fodale dont Petrus Pfeifer, ch<ttelain de Schloss Pfefferkorn, vers 890 est cit
comme aYeul. La filiation remonte a Peter Pfeifer von Hamelin, dit Struw-
wetyeter. Acquisition des seigneuries de Dudelsackpfeifershausen et de Hohen-
pfeifersheim vers 1561. Reichsgraf, Vienne 5 fevr. 1705. . . .
# * * * * *
But we check ourselves in time. There is probably such an
offence as Almanachsbeleidigung, and the penalty cannot be
less than two years in a fortress with deprivation of civil rights.
We are safer in imitating the franker manner of our old-
fashioned English peerage. The wholly imaginary earldom of
Cookmaydensfield may be selected for an example of this
manner. With plentiful models before us we should begin
our tale in this wise
COOK, EARL OF COOKMAYDENSFIELD.
The founder of the illustrious house of Cook of Cookmaydensfield, SIR
HILDEBRANDUS DE CoQCiGRUE, accompanied William the Conqueror in his
memorable invasion of England. He was a knight of gigantic stature, and
famous for his strategy and knowledge of the military arts. The Bayeui
103
io 4 THE ANCESTOR
tapestry contains a figure of him in the act of persuading Duke William at
Bayeux that unmounted men would be preferable for the expedition. He
built the castle of Lampreypool in Gloucestershire. From the Conqueror
he received no less than four hundred manors in the county of Rutland as
appears by Domesday Book, a record which eulogizes his military qualities.
It appears by a MS. genealogy under the hand of Gregory King, Lancaster
Herald, that he married an Anglo-Saxon lady of high birth, GODIVA, relict
of LEOFRIC, EARL OF MERCIA. Holding his lands by the tenure of presenting
the king yearly with a dish of stewed lampreys he fulfilled his office in 1135,
when the king, before dying of indigestion, is related by Ingulphus to have
hastily expressed the hope that his father's faithful servant might be boiled,
a wish which four knights in attendance upon the king at once carried out.
His monument, which remained in the nave of Westminster Abbey until its
restoration by Sir Gilbert Scott, represented him in full armour with a turn-
spit at his feet. The mailed thumb of the right gauntlet pressed against the
nose of the effigy symbolizes his reluctance to join the first crusade. From
him descended in an unbroken line
* * * # * *
From such a gallant opening our old-fashioned peerage
book carries us towards the peer of Queen Anne's creation,
whose eminence and honours, whose progress in the favour
of his sovereign and the esteem of his fellow countrymen, are
touched in for us with broad brush strokes.
The Complete Peerage under COOKMAYDENSFIELD may be
consulted for an example of another and more modern method,
wherein a rill of concise statement flows above a savoury sedi-
ment of notes, after the literary manner of M. Pierre Bayle, as
employed in his great Dictionary. For the distinguished author
of the Complete Peerage Hildebrandus and his immediate de-
scendants are shadows who have no place in his scheme of
peerage-making, save perhaps for passing reference in one of
those notes whose piquancy goes far to explain the high price
with which the Complete Peerage is honoured in booksellers'
catalogues. The Complete Peerage concerns itself only with
peers, and the house of Cookmaydensfield would probably
find itself commemorated something after the following
fashion :
COOKMAYDENSFIELD.
i. Jonas Cook, 4* of Accepted Cook, an em-
* pi r i ca l physician of some notoriety, 1 and a leader
of the Fifth Monarchy men, by Jane, 2 d. of
Potkin, was b. 29 May 1670 in Crutched Friars. 3 He was a
Levant merchant and amassed a large sum by a project for
carrying Welsh coal by sea to Newcastle. M.P. for Old
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN 105
Sarum 1701, and for Bramber 1703-5. He was Deputy
Paymaster General to the forces 1736-42.* He was cr. 12
Jan. I7o. 5 Earl of Cookmaydensfield in Berkshire and
Viscount Cook of Lampreypool. 6 He m. 19 Sep. 1702 Jane,
eld. d. and coh. of Geoffrey Penywyse, fifteenth earl of Pound-
fullish. She also was b. 1681, d. in Curzon St., Mayfair,
3 May 1770. He d. I April 1753 and was b. at Cookmay-
densfield 3 April (M.I.).
1 See Hearne's Collectanea, iii. 46, for his description as a strolling quack-
salver. He is there said to have risen in the world by his prescribing for a poodle
of Lady Castlemaines.
2 For an account of her intrigue with Samuel Pepys, who took her with her
husband to dinner at the Cherry Garden, see the Diary (Wheatley's edition),
ix. 22, 23, 146.
3 The legitimacy of his birth has been questioned (Genealogist, new ser.
iii. 41).
4 At this time his portrait was painted by Kent in the character of Moses,
as an altarpiece for his private chapel at Cookmaydensfield. The picture is
commemorated by Dean Swift :
See Cook, who with one greasy paw
Thumbs the two tables of the Law,
Whilst t'other bilks the Eighth Commandment
Of sixpence for the soldier's hand meant.
8 * Such were the times, such were the occasions, which saw a minister of the
crown a suppliant and purchaser of the favour of a corrupt and shameless office-
bearer ' (Macaulay, Essays, i. 29).
6 For an account of the forgery by Gregory King, Lancaster Herald, of his-
pedigree from the extinct family of Coqcigrue of Lampreypool, see J. H. Round's
Peerage Studies, pp. 476-7.
For the genealogy of a private family treated in the hardy
Norse manner we have before us Major Latham C. M. Blacker's
history of his family, the Blackers of Carrickblacker. Mere
records trace that family to a sufficiently respectable origin.
A Captain Valentine Blacker, an Englishman as may be guessed,,
but hitherto of unknown parentage, purchased in 1660 the
manor of Carrowbrack, since called Carrick Blacker, which
manor appears to be still in his descendants' hands. Three
of these Blackers were sheriffs of their county of Armagh, and
many more of them have served in India and elsewhere with
credit to their stock.
At that sprouting time of ancestral legends, the early
Victorian age, the family of Blacker became dissatisfied with
106 THE ANCESTOR
their respectable pedigree from Captain Valentine. Such
monstrous growths as the pedigree of Coulthart the banker
from Coulthartus the lieutenant of Agricola made the
squires and squireens uneasy in their shadow. A coat of
arms of an English family of Blacker had been used by
them, after the custom of Irish families with English names,
a shield derived, no doubt, as such bearings usually were
and are derived, from some Alphabet of Arms, and of its origin
they had been incurious. But the appetite for family legend
took them, and there were those at hand to satisfy it.
The new pedigree of Blacker could not match with that of
Coulthart, from which it differs even as the sketch of ' Crest
and Motto ' provided by the heraldic stationer for three half-
crowns, differs from the coloured painting of arms, crest,
helmet and motto illuminated on parchment and handsomely
framed for thirty-two and six. The Blacker of that day was
either more grudging or more cautious than Mr. Coulthart.
We have no long line of Blackers, chiefs of their name and
house, perishing lavishly on fields of renown, the props of
kings, the builders of minsters.
But in boldness of motive the rough sketch of their ancestry
afforded the Blackers yields nothing to Mr. Coulthart's em-
blazoned scroll. Without pettily niggling inquiries into the
birth and parentage of the patriarch Valentine, the genea-
logist's arm plunged deep into history and brought up out of
Clio's lucky bag an ancestor to satisfy the most exacting.
Blacker being a surname deriving itself as a rule from a
humble calling, that of the bleacher, and no one of the several
English families of that name having come to any celebrity,
the search for a great housefather on the English side was an
unprofitable one, but the records of Ireland herself yielded
BLACAIRE, the son of Godfrey, one of the Norse rulers of
Dublin in the tenth century. Little is known of Blacaire,
but that little has the local colour of his period. He smote
Muircheartach, a wild Irish chieftain, with the sword, and by
the sword of another breechless hero he perished in A.D. 946,
at the battle of Ath Cliath. He left a son Sihtric, of whom
nothing more is known.
To the clear sight of the genealogist of the bold eighteen-
thirties the truth was no longer hidden. That Blacaire the
illustrious was direct ancestor and founder of the squires of
Carrick Blacker needed no more demonstration, and the
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN 107
Ulster or Garter seems to have commemorated the discovery
of Blacaire by granting a shield of arms which should be worthy
of his line a remarkable composition which we will endeavour
to describe in the sacred language of the heralds as * In a field
argent gutte de sang (from which the Irish host has prudently
withdrawn) Blacaire himself victorious and -proper with an
axe in one hand and a sword in the other.'
From Blacaire the narrative of the pedigree of 1836 pro-
ceeded with a leap to Captain Valentine Blacker, who died in
1677, the intermediate descents being proved by the fact that
Blacaire's name is sometimes written Blaccard, whilst the
patronymic of the Carrick Blacker family was * still pro-
nounced frequently by the lower classes Blackard,' a pronun-
ciation which, having the elements of disrespect within it, we
hope has not survived the thirties.
The whole pedigree of 1836 is reprinted for us by Major
Latham Blacker, whose family has seen the record of Blacaire
and his deeds shouldered out of genealogical annuals by the
number of landed gents with a pedigree for printing. ' These
pedigrees,' as Major Blacker remarks in his scornful Norse
manner, * of interest, no doubt, to their possessors, possess no
interest whatever to the general reader or student of archaeo-
logical research.' Certainly no general reader worthy of the
name would pass by the story of Blacaire, and the student of
archaeological research will be grateful to Major Blacker for
carrying this pedigree, fragile and characteristic of 1836 as
wax fruit under glass, safely into the twentieth century.
Pretty it is to see Major Blacker carry modern research and
method to the support of his venerable pedigree. His method
should be carefully noted by those who suspect Norse blood
in their own veins. The Saxon method we all know, thanks
to Mr. Rye and others, who have given away so many of the
secrets of genealogy. In this case it would indicate a diligent
search amongst English wills and parish registers for the birth
and parentage of Captain Valentine Blacker, but it is not in
this grovelling spirit that Major Blacker takes the field. A
flight as of the Norse war-raven takes him straight to the
feet of his royal ancestor, and from him we begin our saga
to this inspiriting tune.
The history of this family is interwoven with Norse, English, and Irish
records to a remarkable extent.
The name is derived from Blacaire, son of Godfred, son of Ivar (or Imhar),
io8 THE ANCESTOR
son of Regnar Lodbrog, King of Denmark, who was descended from Odin,
King of Asgardia, circa 76 B.C., descendant of Eric, King of Scandanavia, circa.
2000 B.C.
The Four Masters, it is true, make Godfrey grandson and
not son of Ivar Beinlaus, but their information can hardly be
received with the same credit as a statement from a member
of the family, and for several pages of Major Blacker's work
we enjoy ourselves with Olaf of the Sandale, with Olaf son of
Godfrey, with Sitric Caech and Sitric Mac BLACAIRE.
But Valentine Blacker, who died in 1677, a date which we
mention almost apologetically as we meet it on our return
journey from Eric, King of Scandinavia, circa 2000 B.C., came
to Ireland from England, so that sooner or later we must find
a descendant of BLACAIRE who will cross the sea and beget the
English branch. We are left unhampered in our arrange-
ments by the fact that Sitric, the only known child of BLA-
CAIRE, disappears from all records. Here the Saxon genea-
logist would be hopelessly at fault, and foolishly anxious about
the fate of Sitric. But this very disappearance from earth, or
from the annals of the Four Masters at the least, encourages
Major Blacker's confidence.
It is in the Norse spirit, as we have said, that he approaches
his task. Where the Saxon would grope for records with
dates and facts the Norns whisper to Major Blacker the road
which Sitric has taken over the swan's path, and the Vala
murmurs in his ear, 4 Try Domesday ! '
What inference are we to draw from the disappearance
of Sitric ? We hazard that he lies in a bog with an Irish skene
in him, but Major Blacker has the right answer
The inference is that he migrated to Yorkshire.
Of ourselves we should never have divined it, but once
it is pointed out to us we feel we are on the right track, for
Sitric's uncle Olaf had been in the defeat of the Danes at Brun-
anburh, which alone would make Yorkshire seem a second
home to his family.
Some hundred and forty years roll by with no news of
Sitric or his descendants, and we come to the year of the
compilation of Domesday Book, a work which contains in
Major Blacker's opinion 'a very valuable mine of information.'
More than that, it contains Blacaire.
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN 109
Major Blacker has him safe enough, although the entries
are difficult to understand, and in considering the specimen
entry as printed for us our respect for the Domesday labours
of Mr. Horace Round is notably increased.
In Torp. 7. Iretune hbr. Carle 7 Blacre iiij car. tre. 7 dim. ad Gld. ubi. pots,
ee ii car. ne ut Wills 7 waste e TRF ual XVI sol. in XVI dim.
' The portion relating to Yorkshire,' says Major Blacker,
1 has unfortunately not yet been translated ; but the sense
of the above extract is that one Carle Blacre held four hides
of land ; the sign which looks like a seven is not one, but a sort
of mark between the paragraphs.'
The sign * which looks like a seven ' is generally interpreted
as signifying et or ' and,' but as this theory would rob us of
Carle Blacre and give us Carle and Blacre, both surnameless,
we hasten to disavow it and pass on to the entries under Atune,
which give by Major Blacker's method a brother to Carle
Blacre, who shall be called Blacre Ghilander or Ghilander
Blacre, and those under Snechintune, which give us plain Blacre
for a third member of the house. It is a recognisable charac-
teristic of ancient families, such as the Coultharts and the
Blackers, that family surnames derived from the name of
their heroic patriarch are invariably adopted by them some
centuries before the rest of the countrymen recognize the
convenience of the system. Had he followed the usage of his
fellows, Sitric Mac Blacaire's son would have styled himself
in his turn Mac Sitric, by which means the memory of Bla-
caire might have been lost. That he followed more modern
customs is shown by our discoveries of his Yorkshire descend-
ants, each with the family surname in his possession.
Concerning the Atune and Snechintune Blacres :
Here again we find the name transformed, no doubt, by the Norman scribe,
to whom the spelling of the old Norse names must have been a puzzle ; but still
to the experienced antiquarian it is quite enough to establish the link with the
Blacaire whose elder brother, Anlaff, made his peace with Edmund after the
death of Athelstane, and was baptized in 940 and granted Northumbria.
The italics and the admiration are ours. Breathless as
we may be with following the Norse method of estimating
evidence, the next leap clears even a wider gap.
* To go further we must turn to the parish of Great Sandal
near Wakefield.' We take our orders and turn without ques-
H
no THE ANCESTOR
tioning or reasoning why. The Norse method affects us
like this.
To Sandal Castle, which Major Blacker suggests may have
been named after Olaf of the Sandal, Blacaire's cousin, we
have turned, and to the Testamenta Eboraciensa (as Major
Blacker will have it) of the Surtees Society. Here we have
Blackers at will, a John in 1404, a Thomas in 1460, and an-
other Thomas in 1499, with his children Richard and John.
Their direct descent from ' Carle Blacre ' of 1086 seems to
need no proofs. That they in their turn are ancestors of
Valentine Blacker, who was in Armagh under Charles II., is
proved to the hilt by the facts that Canon Blacker has an
ancient carved box with the date 1441 and letters which seem
like J, or T.B., and that Dom Joan de Castro, in a letter of
1598 to the Earl of Essex, says that he sends it by the hands of
* an Englishman called Blacar.'
This spelling of * Blacar,' although by a Portuguese, en-
couraged Major Blacker to a happy explanation of the reason
why his own family have relinquished the spelling of the Four
Masters. The reason is that
Cromwell, after the settlement of Ireland, ordered that all Irishmen should
take the name of a colour, such as grey, white, etc., or the name of a place.
Valentine, to conform with this law, must simply have changed one or two
letters ; and Dom Joan's ' Englishman,' not having come to Ireland, thus es-
caped the rule.
But Cromwell's laws were for the wild Irish, the surnames
of English settlers were not to be tampered with, and we cannot
help guessing that Dom Joan's Englishman probably escaped
this ' curse of Cromwell,' not so much by refraining from a
visit to Ireland as by belonging to an earlier generation.
Major Blacker, it is true, places the date of this Elizabethan
letter at 1698 and not 1598, but this is the mere indifference
of a Viking to the chronology of Saxon shopkeepers.
A chart pedigree from ' Eric, 2000 B.C., King of Scandi-
navia, temp. Serug temp. Abraham ! ' follows Major Blacker's
remarkable work, so that we are enabled to give our readers
some idea of the Scandinavian system for the recording of
pedigrees.
SKOAL TO THE NORSEMAN
in
/Testamenta\ John, 1404
VEboraciensa/ Blaker
(Blaker) Thomas, 1331
(Normanton)
xii Century f Ricardus
Cartulary I Baldwin
St. Benedict's-{ Walterus
Abbey, |
Whitby V. Godfridus
Blacre
Thomas, 1409
Blakar, of Blakargaard,
1349 A.D., Norway
Sweyn Blaca of Blacatoritona
Gt. Roll of the Pipe, 21 Hen. II.
Dev. & Somerset, 1174-75
Ghilander Blacre
Blacre 1086 Blacre
(Domesday Book)
Wigstun Hundred,
Yorks
Sitric Mac Blacar
(to Yorks)
Blacaire, si. 946 A.D.
K. of Dublin
To the Saxon genealogist the form presents difficulties-
but when we remember that the Norseman's pedigree was
chanted aloud by the scalds, we recognize dimly in this curious
chart suggestions for the necessary musical notation.
Such a pedigree should end with a coat of arms, but the
mass of quarterings accumulated during a history of four
thousand years have proved without doubt a stumblingblock
to the heraldic artist, and we must be content with a list of
the principal quarterings beginning with BLACKER, Scotland,
and Scandinavia ! That such an armorial birthright should
have been long neglected by the Blackers of Carrick Blacker
in favour of the English shield of some obscure Blackers whom
even our author's ingenuity cannot bring in to his family chart,
makes a pitiful example of ancestral heedlessness.
* Let no one deem,' said the late Professor Freeman, ' that,
because a false pedigree is a thing to be eschewed and scouted,,
therefore a true pedigree is a thing to be despised. A true
pedigree, be it long or short, is a fact.'
ii2 THE ANCESTOR
Major Blacker 's pedigree is certainly a long one, the longest
we have been privileged to examine. To Major Blacker, who
tells his tale with a transparent honesty not to be mistaken, it
is also a fact. We raise the mead horn, and cry respectfully,
"Skoal to the Viking!'
OSWALD BARRON.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY COSTUME
THE lack of English paintings and illuminations of the latter
half of the fifteenth century makes us fall back for pic-
tures of costume upon the foreign work nearest to our coasts.
Next to work by English hands we could have nothing better
than the superb chronicle books made for Edward IV. by
Flemish hands about 1480, and bearing his arms and white rose
badge in the margins. From one of these we draw our illus-
trations which deal with the history of the reign of Richard II.
of England.
In an earlier article we spoke of the curious simplicity of
the costume of the thirteenth century. In the pictures from
Matthew Paris's lives of the two Offas, we see but few forms
of dress and arms. But here in the fifteenth century the
dominant note is diversity of form and colour to the point of
bewilderment. The hats alone can hardly be reckoned
round, sugar-loaf, foolscap, with every variety of turned-up
edge, high and low, plain and nicked, or cut into fantastic
horns and curves.
Three forms of upper garment may be differentiated,
many examples illustrating each. We have the long gown
which in one form or another goes down the ages and survives
to-day in the gowns of aldermen and the like. This gown is
for the most part cut with loose sleeves and wide wristbands,
and high or pleated shoulders. The back is carefully pleated,
and the waist has a narrow girdle, the belt having ceased to
make part of the splendour of dress. We have a short gown
or coat to the knee or below. This garment follows the lines
of the longer one, but it is worn without a girdle. The short
coat to the fork of the leg is girdled like the gown in order to
persuade the shallow skirt to stand out smartly from the waist.
The sleeves of all these forms often end below the shoulder,
which takes a puffed shape, with fur at the edge of the dwarf
sleeve or else a slittered fringe. In these cases an under sleeve
appears from below and continues to the wrist, and a false
sleeve sometimes hangs loose from below the [shoulder. We
have an example of a great dagged sleeve from the elbow
113
i 14 THE ANCESTOR
which recalls the still larger sleeves of the later fourteenth
century. All these garments are shown edged at collar, wrist
and hem with ermine and sable and other furs. A very grace-
ful riding-cloak appears, hanging before and behind and open
at the sides. It reaches generally to the knee, but an example
is shown where the same type of cloak hangs to the ground.
In this case the sides are fastened together at the waist. The
short furred cloak is emblazoned with arms in one case, but all
armorial matters must be carefully considered before these
pictures, which represent them so ill, be taken as an authority.
The King of France, sitting up on his death-bed in a linen
shirt, marks perhaps the beginning of the end of the medieval
habit of lying naked between the sheets.
The shapes of armour are yet more varied. We see the
full suit of plate taking the advanced form of the mid-fifteenth
century in the picture of the death of the lord of Lagurant,
where the tonlets, tuilles and mail skirt might serve for a knight
of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, but other examples
with tuilles are rare. The toes are pointed in armour and civil
dress, in shoes and long boots. The pauldrons are very charac-
teristic, following in many cases the civil dress, and appearing as
round shell-like whorls with strap fringes hanging from their
edge over the upper arms. Large plate pauldrons of the Henry
VII. fashion are also found. The knee-cops and elbow-cops are
much articulated, and the lesson of a century of much hard
fighting seems to show itself in a desire to move the body
easily and limberly in action. For this reason the brigandine
jacket is much affected by knights as by archers. Compara-
tively few figures are seen in steel cap-a-pie, the defences being
hidden by velvet and coloured cloths with gilt studs and
rivets. The legs are often unprotected in the case of men
otherwise fully armed.
The helms and headpieces are many. A few knights charge
in the close helm, but the sallet with a vizor, and with or with-
out a chin-piece, is the horseman's chief wear. The kettle-
hat is found, and the archers are for the most part in round
skull caps with large roundels over the ears. These roundels
also appear at the cheeks of some of the sallets. With this
headgear the old camail or the mail hood is generally worn.
The rich dress and handsome equipment of the archer will
be remarked as a commentary upon our new knowledge that
the * gentleman ' was not to be found of necessity amongst
FIFTEENTH CENTURY COSTUME 115
the fully armed men. Besides their bows the archers carry
short swords or broad falchions.
Men's hair is worn long, and when the beard is worn the
lips are shaven.
Armorial shields are carried by some of the knights in the
skirmish outside Chierebourg, but coats of arms are rare.
The Earl of Buckingham wears one, and one of the princes at
Duguesclin's death-bed has a furred mantle with the! arms of
France. The helms have no crests, unless some little feathers
and pennons at certain helm-tops may be taken for them.
OSWALD BARRON.
I
116 THE ANCESTOR
The little King Richard II. is here found seated upon a
da'fs under a canopy. He is crowned, but wears none of the
robes which are put upon a king at his crowning. The scene,
too, is not in a church, but in a hall. The king is clad in a
blue gown furred with a brown fur. The great lord upon his
right hand, who is probably one of his uncles, wears the ermine
tippet commonly given to kings and princes in pictures of this
period. His other supporter, who holds an arrow in his hand,
wears a hat of estate turned up with ermine, and another
ermine tippet is seen in the background. The long gown
with loose sleeves is well seen upon the lord addressing himself
to the king, a figure behind him showing the pleats of its back.
The lord immediately behind the speaker has a short coat of
green, red hose and black boots, with a black and gold hat
turned up with white. Amongst the headgear will be noted the
blue hat with a full white turban.
Of the churchmen we may signalize the deacon in a blue
tunicle, holding what would appear to be a reliquary. His
alb is plain green, sleeves and skirt. It may be that no colours
are trustworthy in these brightly painted scenes, but it is to
be' pointed out that albs of gre'en and other colours are named
in inventories of Peterborough and Canterbury, although
these colours have been held to apply to the apparels only.
The priest in the corner is gaily dressed in a blue gown with
edges of white, which probably stand jfor white fur. The long
liripipe about his neck is mauve-purple, and a black collar of
an under garment with a white one below it give a curious
suggestion of the modern clerical collar. At his girdle hang
a purse, a penner and an inkhorn.
n8 THE ANCESTOR
II
Messire Guillame des Bordes sets out from Montbourc to
ride towards Chierebourg with men at arms, archers, arblasters
and footmen to fight with Sir John of Harleston. Sir John
and his men having set out on the like errand, they meet half
way. The English have the better of the skirmish, and
Guillame des Bordes is taken by a Hainault squire named
Guillame de Beaulieu * appert homme darmes q 1 long temps
avoit este anglois.'
Messire Guillame, whom we see led away on foot, wears a
short-sleeved tabard of mauve-purple over his plates and a
gilt sallet with a vizor. A coat of like shape is worn by the
knight on the white horse towards whom he is led. He who
has des Bordes by the left arm is in gilded armour. The other
captor has a brigandine jacket of blue, reinforced with plates,
the slittered ends of the blue jacket being seen below the ton-
lets. Of the mounted knights four or five are seen in the great
helm of the period, and one of these turning towards us shows
the sights defended by small bars, most of the others wearing
sallets with vizors. Shields of arms are carried, a knight of the
Montbourc party bearing three hammers. The fully-armed
man in the front rank of the French is thrusting with a short
bill which has below the blade a vamplate or burr to protect
the hands. The swordsman striking at him is armed to the
thigh, below which we see his red hosen.
The tall English archer gives us a fine figure of a bowman.
He wears no visible armour, though a brigandine is probably
concealed. His blue sleeveless coat has a narrow girdle which
carries his arrows, and a knotted scarf upon the hips. He has
brown hose with red shoes, and the sleeves of his under gar-
ment are purple. He wears a vizored sallet, whilst all the
French archers have iron skull caps with roundels over the
ears.
120 THE ANCESTOR
III
r $| This picture is of the siege of the castle of Mortaigne in
Poitou, which Yvain of Wales, a great enemy of the English,
made by order of the Duke of Anjou. The castle, which was
held by Messire le Soudic de Lestrade, was not to be taken by
assault, so the attackers have ' built their siege ' against it, with
bulwarks of wood, battled and pierced for cannon.
On the right we have the death of Yvain of Wales by
treachery. A squire who was hardly a gentleman, for a
gentleman, says the chronicler, would not have done such a
deed, came to him from the marches of Wales and gave him
news in his own Welsh tongue. Now Yvain was wont to go
out from the camp and sit upon the ground in a certain place
to comb and braid his hair, and thus one morning he bade the
Welsh squire Jacques Laube to bring him his comb. Seeing
that Yvain was alone and unarmed, this evil squire went
quickly and for a comb brought ' a little short Spanish dart,'
with which he struck Yvain through the body, afterwards
escaping to the castle. That he came safely away is shown
by the English record of a payment made to him for his
treachery.
On the left the siegers are firing upon the castle with cross-
bows and long-bows and hand-guns of the simplest form. In
the foreground the longbowman is seen with his shafts stuck
in the ground by his knee, by means of which he could shoot
one after another in great haste. Beside him the crossbow-
man is winding up his arblast.
122 THE ANCESTOR
IV
We have here the King of Navarre as he came to Bordeaux.
He wears a small crown in his hat and an ermine tippet, with
an engrailed edge over his short and tabard-shaped riding
cloak, which is bordered with ermine. The loose sleeves of
his under garment are also edged with ermine. His black
boots are long and of soft leather, the heels having very long
spurs with rowels. On one of those receiving him we see a
good example of the turban hat thrown over the shoulder at
the end of its liripipe. The gentleman behind the king must
be his Serjeant, although he carries a short sceptre-like rod in
place of a mace. The siege gives us two remarkable pictures
of cannon or bombards, the one upon a fixed stand, the other
upon a carriage.
124 THE ANCESTOR
V
This knightly adventure under the walls of a town shows
the manner of the death of the lord of Lagurant.
Lagurant had ridden out to Cavillac, which had an English
garrison, leaving horsemen in an ambush whilst he challenged
Bernard Courant, the captain, to a course with lances. The
horse of Lagurant fell, and Bernard, who was a good and strong
squire, took his basinet with both hands, so that he drew it off
his head. Then Bernard drew his dagger, saying, ' Render
yourself my prisoner, rescue or no rescue, or you are dead.'
Lagurant heard his men ride out and said no word, therefore
Bernard struck him with his dagger in the head and rode off
to the gates, leaving Lagurant wounded to death.
The horse of Bernard has full trappers of a steel colour
flowered with gold. Both horses have crinets of articulated
steel, whilst that of Bernard has the chanfrein as well. The
saddle out of which Lagurant has been drawn shows how the
knight charged locked in his seat. The armour is all of plain
steel. Lagurant's mail skirt with tonlets and * tuilles ' is of
the fashion which continued into the sixteenth century. The
pauldrons wrought into a whirled pattern with a square edged
fringe covering their juncture with the upper plates of the
arms are very characteristic of the period.
126 THE ANCESTOR
VI
This wedding is that of the young count Walleran de Saint
Pol with the fairest lady in England, the lady Maude of Hol-
land, daughter of the king's mother.
The count's wedding gown is blue, edged with fur, the
liripipe over his shoulder being black. His bride's tall hat is
turned up with fur. Her gown, slit at the sides from foot to
mid thigh, has a long train and sleeves falling from below the
shoulder. One of her ladies wears a good example of the
steeple head-dress. The men's gowns are clearly shown,
gathered in small pleats down the back, the sleeves very full and
high at the shoulder, where they are slightly pleated.
128 THE ANCESTOR
VII
Here Messire Bertran de daiquiri [du Guesclin] sets siege
to Neufchastel de Randon, and here he dies, which was a great
advantage to his enemies and a great ill to the kingdom of
France.
In the foreground we have a great siege cannon upon a
wheeled carriage, a carriage which exactly resembles the
Flemish wheelbarrow of our own time. It is guarded by two
billmen carrying pavesses.
Messire Bertran lies dying stark naked after the bed fashion
of his day, but wearing a white night-cap. One of the princes
near him wears the tabard-like horseman's cloak with an ermine
tippet. Here the cloak is of blue with the arms of France.
A longer form of this graceful cloak is worn by the mounted
knight.
1 30 THE ANCESTOR
VIII
Here the Earl of Bouquinghem [Buckingham], the king's
uncle, goes to sea to bring help to the Duke of Bretaigne.
In the chamber scene we have most interesting examples
of civil dress. The variety of headgear at this time is shown
by the fact that each of the five hats differs from the others.
The gown and coat are of three lengths. The long gown has
been illustrated by the earlier pictures, and it is enough to
call attention to the sleeves of it, which in one case resemble
the falling sleeves of the bride (in No. VI.). The coat to the
knee or below it has plain sleeves, loose at the wrist in one
instance and gathered tight in the other. The bearded gallant
in the foreground has a coat to the fork of the leg, gathered at
the back after the fashion of the long gown. His coat is blue
with a dagged red border below the shoulder, from which hang
long sleeves, sweeping from the elbow to a foot of the ground,
of green stuff with elaborate daggings which recall the long
sleeves actually worn in that reign of Richard II. which these
pictures illustrate with the costumes and arms of the reign
of Edward IV.
In the second division the earl strides up the gangway-
plank in his fore and aft riding cloak of blue and ermine, with a
hat of the same. The ship captain receiving him is clad in a
grey hooded coat with a skirt of the same, of a texture which
suggests the skipper's oilskins.
1 32 THE ANCESTOR
IX
Here the Earl of Buckingham has come before the town of
Troies in Champaigne, where are the Dukes of Burgundy,
Bourbon and Bar, the Count of Eu, the lord of Couci, and
many other great folk. He sends forward to the barrier his
two kings of arms, Chandos and Acquitaine, to parley with the
garrison.
The form of the tabards of the officers of arms is of great
interest. They bear the arms of England only where they
should bear France and England quartered, but the arms are
coarsely indicated, and it is unfortunate that few of the
illuminators of pictures we're experts in armorial devices,
having no knowledge of the mystery of the shield painters.
The Earl of Buckingham on horseback at the right bears the
plain arms of England on his coat, without his border for
difference.
J34 THE ANCESTOR
X
Here the English come to skirmish at the bulwark before
Troies, and gain it by force of arms.
The defenders of Troies have built without the gates a
* bollewercq ' and a l bastille ' made of doors and shutters and
tables. An English knight leaps this with his horse and lays
about him till horse and man are killed. From the gate tower
the great lords look on at their ease. Under cover of archery
the attackers, sword in hand, assault the bulwark with ladders.
On the right a mild-faced cannonier is about to touch off a
huge cannon whose direction seems to threaten attack, de-
fence, bulwark and towers.
The turbaned French archer in the foreground wears over
a mail frock a brigandine covered with red with gold points.
The swordsman on the ladder may be remarked for his short
skirt of scalework and for the armour of his legs. His greaves
cover his legs to the knees, which are left unprotected. The
straps which fasten the cuisses are also shown.
136 THE ANCESTOR
XI
Whilst the English were riding through the realm of
France, King Charles of France lay dying. We see him
propped up in a high bed with a red coverlet and curtains
wrought with golden fleurs de lys. He wears a turban-shaped
cap, and to our surprise we find him clad in a white shirt,
although the custom was still to lie in bed naked. About his
bed are his brothers and councillors. The sleeve of the gen-
tleman with his back to us shows that the fringed pauldron
of the armour followed, as is usual, a fashion in civil dress.
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 1
THE family of Attwood, famous in the glass and iron
trades on Tyne and Wear, has produced many respect-
able citizens and one notable man. Thomas Attwood (1783-
1856), Cobbett's ' King Tom,' was a leader of Birmingham
reformers in the ' thirties ' and founder of the once famous
* Birmingham Political Union for the Protection of Public
Rights.' At the height of his day he was the hero of the mid-
lands. His portraits, plain and coloured, were hawked in the
streets and the ballad singers sang of him. He was a noisy
and violent M.P., although as an agitator he kept within
bounds and may be remembered to-day because he nipped in
its beginning a movement of Passive Resisters who were
organizing a refusal to pay taxes. His pet theory of the
currency that the issue of money creates markets he urged
in and out of season to the emptying of the parliament
benches. He died leaving the memory of an honest and
strenuous man and of an untiring bore, therefore Birmingham
has honoured him with one of those grimy statues in frock
coat and trousers which stand at the street corner to warn us
that the private life is best.
Such a typical family of manufacturers and politicians
deserve a little book as their memorial, a book of which a few
copies might sleep honourably in the top shelves of public
libraries, whilst others become parlour heirlooms amongst
the Attwoods and their kin. But the needful book is not
this of Mr. John Robinson's.
We begin a book without arrangement or system at an
account and an illustration of a memorial brass set up in a
Sunderland church to one of the Attwoods. As the Edward
Attwood commemorated seems to have been an undistinguished
member of his family, and as the brass itself, although to the
pen dipped in journalese * a beautiful example of the en-
graver's art,' is the commonplace production familiar to us
1 THE ATTWOOD FAMILY, with historic notes and -pedigrees, by JOHN ROBIN-
SON. Printed for private circulation by Hills & Company, Sunderland, 1903.
137
138 THE ANCESTOR
in the windows of Covent Garden ' ecclesiastical art ware-
houses,' we may soon discover that the arrangement of para-
graphs and pages is independent of any connected narrative.
We have anecdotes of the Mr. Attwood with a kindly fancy for
giving anonymous thousand-pound notes to hospitals and
charities, and stories of the parliamentary days of the Attwoods,
mingled with cuttings from local newspapers announcing
Attwood marriages, deaths and burials, cuttings which are
remorselessly reprinted at length. The mourners in each
mourning coach are counted for us by name, ' the patent
metallic coffin supplied by Mr. James Bunch, builder and
undertaker of Cheshunt ' is uncovered for us.
In and out of these chronicles of the grave and of the
grave's tasteful monument in red granite we have a long
tale of the great ancestry of the family. Now the family
pedigree of these Attwoods is one upon which no doubt can
be thrown. An appendix displays it in full, as it was' compiled
in 1888 and registered at the College of Arms. It was based
upon sound research made by Mr. Thomas A. C. Attwood,
a member of the family and a genealogist of the modern
school. No genealogical difficulty is suggested by it, and
the certificate of the officers of arms is a guarantee that the
evidences for it have been carefully examined.
The first ancestor of the family is one George Attwood of
Halesowen in Worcestershire, who married Mary Foley of
the same place and died in 1721, having removed to Rowley
Regis in Staffordshire. His son, another George, married
Sarah Bowater and died in 1767. A third George bought
Hawne House near Halesowen, and with him we see the
rise of the family fortunes, the next generation giving us the
first J.P. and D.L. At the time of the registering of this
pedigree a grant of arms would seem to have been obtained.
Here we have the simple and uncontestable facts of the
Attwood family history, concerning which Mr. Robinson
allows himself many pages of braggart assertion. The ar-
rangement of the book gives us no aid in sorting out and
piecing together the fragments of the preposterous family
legend which weighs upon the Attwoods and their editor. A
poet has spoken of the violet of a legend. In the story of
the Attwoods and their kinsfolk legend gives us its trumpet-
orchids.
With the first prosperous Attwood appeared the tale that
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 139
the family was a branch of the most distinguished family of
the name to be found in the heraldry books, the Attwoods
of Wolverley, concerning whom Nash is quoted as saying that
they were * the most ancient family in the county.' A
reference to Nash saves his reputation, his phrase being ' the
most ancient family in the parish. 5 The Attwoods of Wolver-
ley having found knights of the shire in the fourteenth century r
Mr. Robinson feels himself warranted in describing the Att-
woods of Hawne House, whose first M.P. occurs in 1832, as
having been ' associated with the representation of the people
from the first of our parliamentary history down to the reign
of Queen Victoria.' * For upwards of 550 years they were
active members in the council chambers of the nation.' From
this beginning the editor finds ancestors for his Attwoods in
tangled plenty.
So voluminous were the documents placed at my disposal, that the difficulty
was what to leave out rather than what to embody in the appendix. . . .
But I make no apologies for bringing before the reader the records of so
remarkable a family. From the far-off days of our pre-Norman history down
to the great Victorian era, the family have ever been conspicuous for their
patriotism and ceaseless industry. . . . The family for upwards of a thousand
years have been foremost citizens in our national life and history.
This being the year of grace 1904, we may take it then,
that the Attwoods of Hawne can be traced beyond the year
904, but Mr. Robinson gives us but tantalizing scraps from
their genealogy. They have the rare distinction of possessing
more than one pedigree and all equally authentic. We have
already Mr. Robinson's declaration that they were foremost
citizens in England of A.D. 904, but to our surprise Brittany
claims them as well. Homer's birthplace was found in more
than one city and country, and the * De Bois afterwards Angli-
cized into Attwood, were knights of Brittany before the
Conquest. When they came over with William I. they settled
in Worcester.'
Their third origin was royal and French. * The Attwoods,
with the exception of two other families, had after the Con-
quest more land than any other family in England. They
descended from the Capets, Kings of France ! " In Wolverley
church was once the effigy of a knight. As Attwoods were
found at Wolverley the knight was to Mr. Robinson's mind
so undeniably an Attwood ancestor that discussion of the
point is needless. His legs were crossed, therefore all church-
140 THE ANCESTOR
yard legends witness that he must have been a crusader. ' On
the coat of arms of this Crusader is the Fleur de Lys, a proof
of his descent from the Capets, Kings of France.' The
unimaginative antiquary, noting that the fleur de lys is not
part of the arms of Attwood of Wolverley would but conclude
that the crusader was not an Attwood, but we are in Mr.
Robinson's hands.
Attwood being confessedly the name of one living at a
wood, Mr. Robinson amplifies the family pedigree by admitting
every one who at any time or in any country has lived at or in
any wood whatever to the privileges of kinship. If you are
from a French wood your name may be written Dubois or
de Bois, but you are none the less an Attwood. Community
of surname proves community of blood. Mr. Robinson's own
name offers great possibilities which he cannot afford to
neglect. Robinson is the son of Robin or Robert. Robert
the Devil will make a fine figure in the Robinson pedigree
volume, and the late Commander-in-Chief and the professional
billiard champion cousins of whom one may be proud. And
bold Robin Hood, clearly an ancestor of Mr. John Robinson,
brings the Robinson pedigree to a most interesting point. For
Robin was at or of a wood if ever any one was, and therefore
an Attwood in grain. We begin to see that Mr. Robinson
has his good reasons for his high opinion of the Attwoods.
It must not be imagined that this bold theory of the sur-
name is used timidly by Mr. Robinson, for the famous line of
Bois of Leicestershire has its own place in the Attwood history,
just as Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, is here by reason
of a similarity of arms. But it will hardly be believed, even
by those whose appetite for marvels has been blunted by
much reading of family history, that the famous Breton story
of the Combat of the Thirty by the oak of Ploermel is here
presented to us as handed down by a tradition of the Attwoods
of Hawne ! It is evert so, and when Beaumanoir thirsts for
water in the fight it is ' Geoffrey de Bois (Attwood) ' who bids
him ' bois ton sang.'
A like exercise of what may be termed genealogy by
instinct gilds the alliances of the Attwoods. The heralds'
college pedigree, which by this time we are ready to denounce
as grovelling and unimaginative, recognizes the marriage of
the third George Attwood in 1742 with Rachel Maria Gaunt,
daughter of Samuel Gaunt, grandson of Roger Gaunt of
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 141
Rowley Regis, beyond whom the official genealogist, hampered
by his demands for parish register entries, wills and the like,
will not Suffer himself to be led.
The match with Gaunt gives Mr. Robinson and his
method their best occasion.
The alliances of the Attwoods with the great families of the kingdom did
not cease in the days of the Plantagenets, the Capets of France, or the houses
of Beauchamp and Dudley. The grandfather of Mr. Edward Attwood of
Southwick married, in 1716, Rachel Maria Gaunt, who was a descendant of
Ralph Gaunt, Lord of Alost, Flanders, and a descendant of the family of
"Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster.'
The relationship with John of Gaunt is stated for us on
another page as a direct descent from his third son. That
third son was, as Mr. Robinson is doubtless aware, the famous
Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. The domestic life
of churchmen in the middle ages was necessarily a private
one, by reason of certain prejudices against the marriage of
the clergy, and thus we may readily account for the small
figure in history made by the cardinal's wife and offspring.
Further examination of our authority shows us that the
Gaunts shared with the Attwoods their puzzling distinction
of two or more differing lines of male ancestry. A pedigree
in the appendix makes this clear, so innocent a pedigree in
form and matter that we must ask our printer to render it
at length.
142 THE ANCESTOR
Baldwin de Isle=Alice, dau. of Robert, King of France,
" son of Hugh Capet
Gisler= Ralph Gaunt, Lord of Alost, Flanders
j. Gilbert=Alic
i. Baldwin came over with William z. Gilbert=Alice
the Conqueror
Walter=Maud, dau. of Stephen
I of Brittany
Robert
Stephen
Gilbert
[A portion of the MS. representing six generations lost
or mislaid on the death of Benjamin Attwood]
i. Robert de
Gaunt 2. Gilbert 3. Margaret=William de 4. Nicholas 5. Juliane
" Kidister
Rodger William Gaunt=
I
John=
John=
Rachel Maria Gaunt= George Attwood of Hawn House
[born I7i6,died 1798] and the Leasowes
Unless the six missing generations include John of Gaunt
we have here a second version of the pedigree of Rachel
Maria. We may contrast with it the common and doubtless
incorrect account of the family of Gaunt of Folkingham in
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 143
Lincolnshire, which would seem to be the family of Rachel
Maria's Gilberts and Roberts.
Gilbert de Gand, a
Domesday tenant
Walter de Gand of = Maude, dau. of Stephen
Folkingham I of Brittany
Robert de Gand,
second son=
Gilbert of Gand called Earl Stephen de
of Lincoln in 1216= Gand
Robert de Gand, Gilbert de Gand Juliane
died s.p. of Folkingham =
Iichole=]
Gilbert de Margaret= William de Nichole= Peter de Juliane, aged 40 and un-
Gand, died I Kerdeston I Mauley married in 1298, coheir
s.p. 1298 of her brother
Roger de Kerdeston, Peter de Mauley,
coheir of Gilbert coheir of Gilbert
his uncle in 1298 his uncle
This pedigree and the pedigree registered at the College
of Arms are both set right in important particulars by Mr.
Robinson's chart pedigree, which was, we understand, found
amongst the papers of the late Benjamin Attwood. Mr.
Attwood's discovery that Roger de Kerdeston should be more
accurately described as * Rodger William Gaunt ' saves us from
the commonly received opinion that this line of Gaunt or
Gand was extinct in name. Rodger William de Kerdeston de
Kidister Gaunt, as we may be allowed to describe him, was
born about 1278. As great-grandfather of Rachel Maria
we have his marriage in 1640, which throws into shade the
late achievement of Lord Donegall.
The reader must not imagine that this lofty monument
to the Attwoods has not its base in chronicles and records,
i 4 4 THE ANCESTOR
for many are quoted. But the following sample will show
that however intelligible to their collector they offer diffi-
culties to the understanding of less instructed antiquaries.
Jon Boys (Bois) Attwood, habet licentium Celebraidi divine in oratorir sus
de Wade achu Wolvordle et Trympelye per anno 19 Jan. 1357.
It were certainly better to take the Attwoods and the
Gaunts upon the safer basis of their family traditions. The
fragrance of these follows us to the book end. The last
chapter is to tell us that Mr. B. St. John Attwood-Mathews
is now living at Llanvihangel Court in Monmouthshire. It
is very reasonably headed ' The Attwoods in History,' and
the discovery that King Charles I. slept in a bedroom at
Llanvihangel draws from Mr. Robinson as a necessary com-
ment :
It is interesting to find how interwoven with the great historic events of
our national life has been the patriotism of the Attwood family. From century
to century a De Bois or an Attwood has ever been foremost in the battles, the
councils, and in the no less glorious peaceful development of the country.
We do not wonder at Mr. Robinson's enthusiasm for the
patriotism of the Attwoods if we have quoted him fairly.
As we understand him, a gentleman whose mother was of this
godlike race has bought or rented an historic house ; and by
reason of this the patriotism of his mother's relations is inter-
woven with the great historic events of our national life.
King Charles is said to have directed a campaigri*from Llanvi-
hangel, and the Attwoods are thereby ' foremost in their
country's battles ! ' Tartarin of Tarascon, who had in youth
refused a clerkship in a Singapore house, and reckoned himself
therefor a seasoned authority on Mongolian warfare, that
Tartarin would have understood and envied Mr. Robinson.
This then is one more of that tale of well bound, well
printed works on genealogy which, nourished in imagination
and untrammeled by study or discrimination, come in steady
progress from the press. We congratulate Mr. Robinson,
whom his title page shows to be a writer of some experience,
on his production of a notable example. But his book may
fall into the hands of a critic who should demand in a compiler
of medieval genealogy an acquaintance with at least such
outlines of English history as are taught in our nurseries, with
the Latin of the dame's school, or with the critical faculty
THE ATTWOODS AND THEIR BARD 145
which should enable the compiler to suspect a discrepancy of
facts when more than one father is assigned to a single indivi-
dual. Should such ill-fortune come to this book Mr. Robin-
son will have our sympathy, which must for the present be
given to Mr. Thomas A. C. Attwood, who sees his honestly
constructed pedigree of his family brought to scorn by Mr.
Robinson's morris dance amongst ' de Boscos,' Capets, de
Bois, and Gaunts. That a stranger should hang paper
lanterns to the boughs of one's family tree is a trespass not to
be forgiven.
O. B.
146 THE ANCESTOR
TWO suits of which the record is preserved in Bracton's
Note Book enable me to supplement my paper on
' Giffard of Fonthill Giffard.' x I there showed that one of
the coheirs of the Fonthill Giffards in the reign of John was
William Cumin. Who he was and whence he came are
points that seem to have remained hitherto undetermined ;
but his connection with Warwickshire and with Scotland can
now be established.
In 1224 John de Mar(a) 2 and Eva his wife brought a suit
by their attorney against Robert de Mandeville (eldest coheir
of the Giffards) for Eva's third part (i.e. dower) of the fourth
part of Sutton (Mandeville) and the third part of the third
part of Fonthill (Giffard), Wilts, and the third part of the
fourth part of (Avon) Dasset and Halford, Warwickshire, 3
these fractions being accounted for by the division of the
Fonthill barony. They claimed this dower as that with
which William Cumin, her former husband, had endowed
her, her attorney, James ' Scot,' being witness thereto.*
Robert's plea was that her husband had only endowed
her with the third of the estates he held at the time of
her espousals, 5 and Eva stated that she had been espoused
in Scotland. Eva's connection with Scotland is further proved
by the fact that earlier in the year (14 February) ' Eva que
fuit uxor Willelmi Cumin ' had received letters of safe-
conduct * in eundo per terram Anglic versus partes Scottie et
inde redeundo.' fl
In another suit of the same date (Mich. 1224) John and
1 Ancestor, vi. 137-47.
3 The name is ' Mar ' in Bracton's Note Book, but an entry on the Close Rolls
below seems decisive in favour of ' Mara.'
s Bracton's Note Book (ed. Maitland), ii. 718. The Warwickshire names,
* Dorcet ' and * Alesfordia,' have baffled the indexer.
* William Cumin, therefore, was dead before this date.
B Which evidently implies that her husband, at that time, had not become
a coheir of the Giffard fief.
6 Calendar of Patent Rolls (1216-25), i. 427.
THE CUMINS OF SNITTERFIELD 147
Eva claimed a third part of two- thirds of Snitterfield,Warwick-
shire, as dower with which her husband William Cumin had
endowed her. 1 Their opponent, William de Canteloup, called
for Eva's warranty, and John and Eva replied that it was in
the keeping of King of Scotland, * de quo tenet,' and that
William only had possession of the land as custos during the
minority of the heir. William admitted this and vouched
to warranty John de Abetot, the lord.
Accordingly, in Trinity term following (i225), 2 John and
Eva brought their suit against John de Abetot. John ad-
mitted her right to the dower if she would give him possession
of the heir, but she and her husband replied that the heir
was in Scotland and out of their control. John therefore lost
his case.
An entry on the Close Rolls two years later (1227) gives
the name of the heir
John de Mara attornavit Jacobum de Lascel' et Warinum de Jernem ' contra
Johannem de Abbetot de Margaria filia et herede Willelmi Cumyn quam idem
Johannes de Abbetot exigit a predicto Johanne et Eva uxore ejus.
So far all seems plain enough ; but when we turn to
Dugdale's Warwickshire 3 we find a very different version.
To the last William Cumin he assigns as widow, not Eva, but
Margerie
Of these Cumins was William the last male branch, who being dead in
1 8 John (1216), Margerie his widow (and an heir) then took to husband William
de Hastings. Which William Cumin left a daughter and heir called Margerie,
within age in 13 Hen. III. (1228-9), an< ^ ^ n ward to William de Cantilupe, but
afterwards married to John de Cantilupe, a younger son to the said William.
His authority for making Margerie the widow is an entry
on the Close Rolls of 1216
Mandatum est vicecomiti Warewic' quod faciat habere Willelmo de Hasting*
dotem uxoris sue que earn contingit de libero tenemento que fuit Willelmi
Cumin in Shultenesfeld' (Snitterfield) *
The only solution I can suggest is that there were two
William Cumins, father and son, of whom the latter died
some eight years after his father, leaving a widow Eva.
1 Bractotfs Note Book, ii. 695. John de Mar(a)'s name is there given
wrongly, as is also the name of the place.
2 Ibid. ii. 547. a Ed. 1730, p. 661.
Calendar of Close Rolls (folio), i. 288b.
148 THE ANCESTOR
Although Snitterfield, like Halford and Avon Dasset, was
in Warwickshire and was held of the Earls of Warwick, its
tenure was quite distinct from that of the other two manors,
and was unconnected with the Giffards. The Testa de
Nevill (pp. 98, 99) shows us the two latter places held by ' the
heir of Andrew Giffard ' (the last Giffard of Fonthill), and
elsewhere (p. 83) shows them held by Robert Mauduit,
another of the Giffard coheirs. But Snitterfield it shows us
(on p. 83) held by the above W[illiam] de Canteloup, and on
p. 98 held by John de Canteloup (under Thomas de Clinton). 1
The Clinton holding under the earls was a great one, and
Abetot may have been mesne lord between Clinton and
Cumin. It is clear in any case that Cumin, who was appar-
ently of Scottish extraction, was actual tenant of Snitterfield,
for he witnessed as lord of Snitterfield with Robert his
brother a Giffard charter. 2 Moreover his predecessor
Walter Cumin was evidently holding Snitterfield under
the Earls of Warwick as early as 1159, for he appears among
the earl's knights to whom their scutage was remitted in
that year. 3 And even on the Pipe Roll of 1130 a William
Cumin is found hi the district. Scottish genealogists may be
able to affiliate these Cumins and to tell us who Eva was.
The above notes will at least clear up the Cumins' double
tenure, which seems to have caused at the time some difficulty.
To the sheriff of Warwickshire letters were sent, 16 February
1224, to make inquisition
si Willelmus Cumin tenuit de nobis in capite per servitium militare in
Baillia tua et si per inquisitionem inde factam tibi constiterit ipsum Willelmum
de nobis non tenuisse per servitium militare in Baillia tua, tune permittas
Robertum de Maundevilla et alios dominos terre que fuit ipsius Willelmi in
Baillia tua plenam inde seisinam, etc. 4
In the same year the sheriff of Wilts is informed that the
king has granted to Osbert Giffard
custodiam terre et heredis Willelmi Cumin cum maritagio ipsius heredis que
ad dominum Regem spectat eo quod terra sua de Domino Rege tenuit in capite
per servitium militare.' 5
1 Compare the appearance of John de Canteloup, as representing the Cumin
coheir in Testa, p. 152.
a The Giffards. By General Wrottesley, p. 1 1.
3 Pipe Roll 5 Hen. II. p. 26.
* Calendar of Close Rolls (folio), i. 585^ * Ibid. p. 582.
THE CUMINS OF SNITTERFIELD 149
The two widely separated estates being brought by the
heiress to a Cantelupe, we find John de Cantelupe receiving
charters for a market at his manor of Snitterfield, 24 September
1257, and for free warren in his manor of Fonthill (Giffard) on
the same day. 1
J. HORACE ROUND.
1 Calendar of Charter Rolls, i. 474-5.
150 THE ANCESTOR
WHAT IS BELIEVED
Under this beading the Ancestor will call the attention of press
and public to much curious lore concerning genealogy, heraldry
and the like with which our magazines, our reviews and news-
papers from time to time delight us. It is a sign of awaken-
ing interest in such matters that the subjects with which the
Ancestor sets itself to deal are becoming less and less the sealed
garden of a few workers. But upon what strange food the
growing appetite for popular archeology must feed will be
shown in the columns before us. Our press, the best-informed
and the most widely sympathetic in the world, which watches
its record of science, art and literature with a jealous eye, still
permits itself, in this little corner of things, to be victimized by
the most recklessly furnished information, and it would seem
that no story is too wildly improbable to find the widest cur-
rency. It is no criticism for attacking* s sake that we shall
offer, and we have but to beg the distinguished journals from
which we shall draw our texts for comment to take in good
part what is offered in good faith and good humour.
IT happened that a reviewer of the Ancestor in a morning
newspaper commented upon the few eminent men pro-
duced by a certain family which figured in our series of the
oldest families. The next morning brought his answer in
the shape of a letter to the editor.
WHAT ANCIENT FAMILIES fcHAVE DONE.
SIR, The remark in your issue of the yth inst. that ' politicians have noticed
that families of very long descent have in many cases failed to produce such
eminent men as occasional bishops or judges,' is an unjustifiable sneer. Men of
gentle birth entitled to wear swords have ever deemed that the profession of
arms was their natural calling, as the rolls of honour of England, Scotland, and
Ireland amply testify, from long before the days of Drake and Howard to those
of Nelson and Wellesley down to the present day. The foundations of the
British Empire have been well cemented with the blood of scions of ancient and
honourable families who died for God, King, and country while leading the way
to victory. Neither journals nor magazines then existed for the most part to
advertise their achievements, and latter-day critics can form no idea of the
feelings of chivalry which have ever caused men of good blood to be silent as to
their own deeds, and ever to stand aside and allow others to reap the fame and
rewards that they themselves have won on many a hard-fought field of battle
WHAT IS BELIEVED 151
by sea and land. For many generations the legal and clerical professions were
considered none too honourable callings, and not altogether without reason,
though happily times have changed, and they are nowadays honourable enough.
That the names of men of old family are not more often seen in prominent posi-
tions of civilian life only proves that they are few in numbers as compared with
the crowds of self-seeking, pushing, and ambitious men of humbler extraction,
striving to win notice for themselves. And here, again, the feelings of chivalry
cause men of birth more frequently than not to stand aside to allow others to
gain the prizes that they themselves might, if they chose, have won. As a man
of ancient and honourable descent, but disliking self-advertisement, I subscribe
myself, yours, etc.,
IGNOTUS.
This letter of Ignotus deserves the few more readers which
the Ancestor can give it. It is a touching instance of the
pious belief which the general public born after the publication
of the Waverley Novels keeps in the Old England and the old
times of the romancer. Ignotus might sign himself Legion,
and be within the truth. In the curl of every sentence we
have the middle ages of the Keepsakes and the Giftbooks. In
midstage is the soldier radiant in white steel, the white ostrich
plumes billowing down his back. Crouching in the wings are
the flabby priest, the scrivening lawyer, and the base merchant.
The peasant, comic in his vileness, makes a background for
the knight, who with his mouth full of vows to God, the pea-
cock and the ladies goes splendidly about his quest of honour
and the smiles of those in the balconies.
The very phrase of ' men of gentle birth entitled to wear
swords ' takes us to the land of such fancies where the wearing
of a sword is such a distinction as can be allowed only to the
gently born. The sight of a roll of pleas of the crown will
correct any impression that this land was England in the
Middle Ages. And England of no later time will encourage
the belief. The eighteenth century saw swords peep from the
skirts of many fine gentlemen, but the wearing was no privilege
of caste. Any likely young fellow in his holiday suit might
buckle one on without showing shield or pedigree. William
Hogarth for one was vilain if we search an ancestry for him,
but nevertheless when a guinea or two came in from his plates
he would put on his sword and walk the Mall with the best.
* * *
It may be that Ignotus does not speak of the wearing of
a sword at home, but would have us believe that the privilege
of wielding one in a field of France or Scotland belonged to
152 THE ANCESTOR
the gently born. Again the records will not help him.
Caesar might write of the Gauls that they loved fine speeches
and military affairs, and the Gauls' descendants keep these
tastes. But we English, although sinfully fond of a brawl,
have been ever inclined, until Mr. Kipling came to rebuke us,
to despise military affairs and the soldier's calling. The belief
of the village mother, whose son has gone for a soldier, that
her child is now a wastrel and the companion of the gallows-
worthy, reflects truly enough the feeling of the old English
household of all ranks. We recall the Jacobean will of a well-
born squire who has found a younger son smoking a certain
herb detestable to the father. Forthwith the son is cut off
with a shilling, and the father sets down in his will his fore-
bodings of the wretchedness to which that son will come.
Yes, he will become, for all the broken-hearted father can see,
a serving-man ' or a souldier* both callings in which, as the
old squire bitterly observes, in which a young man ' may enjoy
a pipe of tabacko.'
* * *
The spirit of Falstaff's ragged regiment was too often in
those whom the sheriff's levies or the king's writ forced to the
wars. To serve the king in his wars was the felon's loophole
for escape. The great baron, locked up in steel, with his
banner and pennon going before him, saw the world not
unpleasantly in the king's host, and the pay was welcome in
his purse. The knight and the squire, if they prayed before
battle after the fashion of Arcite and Palamon, would have
left Mars and Venus for the shrine of Mercurius. The love
tales of those business-like ages taught gentlemen, as in Petit
Jeban de Saintre, that if they loved far amours something
might be made out of the lady's affections. And war
likewise was something which carried the possibility of a
plump prisoner whose ransom might fill their hands with
gold pieces ; or if ransom were not to be looked for, the
prisoner might be knocked on the head and his fine coat and
plates happed up in a handy bundle. With men of ancient
and honourable descent treachery was also a marketable
article. The surrender of a strong place for the sake of a
bribe would make Europe ashamed if a modern captain did
the deed. Under the mere suspicion of such a wickedness
Bazaine died as a leper and an exile. But any old chronicler
has a dozen stories for you which go to show that to the old
WHAT IS BELIEVED 153
chivalry the jangling of crowns in a bag was a temptation which
many could not abide.
The ' men of good blood silent as to their own deeds ' were
doubtless ancestors of Ignotus in the direct line, and for them
he must be responsible. We do not find them amongst the
chieftains who maintained bards that no crumb of their
achievements should go unmultiplied to the loaf of legend.
And in the many-coloured life of the middle ages we find
them not, for chronicle, book and ballad speak loudly of a
braggart age. More than one Elizabethan hero wrote his own
tale for fear that aught of his fame should be lost, and the
practice shows no sign of being abandoned by our great com-
manders.
If we may follow the argument of Ignotus the * hard
fought battle by sea and land ' is won either invariably or as a
general rule by * men of good blood.' These, it would seem,
are accompanied to the field by certain plebeians to whom the
fame and rewards incident upon the victory are silently
handed by the victors. If this be so, the shy patricians must
have suffered a long vexation from the writings of the chroni-
clers and historians, who, disregarding the delicate feelings
of chivalry, have from the beginning of time given all honour,
fame and applause to the well-born combatant.
The names picked by Ignotus to point his argument are
somewhat unfortunately chosen. The ancient and honour-
able descent, the * good blood ' of Drake or Nelson might be
questioned by any genealogist. France, which in the past
drew that sharp line between gentle and simple which we
never saw in England, found a Ney and a Murat who would
go as far as a Cond6 or a Turenne. The one great medieval
commander of English birth who made a name and figure in
mid-Europe was Giovanni Aguto English John Hawkwood,
the tailor's son from Essex. For Ignotus the knight on the
barded horse, the admiral in a cocked hat are the heroes upon
whom Fame should wait, with the mouthpiece of her trumpet
near her lips, but our own age has learned to its advantage to
see the bare-legged billmen tramping before the knight, and
the handy man standing by the admiral.
* * *
The saying that l the legal and clerical professions were
considered none too honourable callings ' at some unspecified
154 THE ANCESTOR
period of the middle ages or renascence is a hard one, and one
reflecting upon the * men of ancient and honourable descent '
for whom Ignotus would speak, for Courtenays, Scropes,
Graunsons, Nevills and Greys filled many a see and enjoyed
many a fat beneficence in the old days, to the envy of their
fellows. As for the legal profession, it was the stay and prop
of nobility. The gentleman who was not something of a
lawyer was for centuries reckoned a boor ; there are very few
indeed of our really ancient houses which have not at one time
or another mended their fortunes by the law.
* # #
To sum up, let us say that England had never a noble
and gentle caste unless it were in the Yellowplush days of the
early nineteenth century. It is the business of the antiquary
and genealogist to show that England has an ancestor in a
frieze coat as well as an ancestor in cloth of gold, and 'enough
reason to be proud of both.
The death of Lord Alington has revived the fame of yet
another of those great officers who surrounded Duke William
at Hastings, even as Napoleon is surrounded by his marshals
in a canvas of Vernet or Meissonier. Newspapers, and here
and there an old-fashioned peerage book, alone keep their
fame green, for these disinterested warriors are never found
in the crabbed paragraphs of Domesday book. They came
here to fight at Senlac and to found families of Georgian and
Victorian peers. Manors and rents they sought not.
Though Lord Alington was only made a peer in 1876, he came of a family
of ancient lineage, one of his ancestors being Sir Hildebrand de Alington, who
was marshal to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.
We have before this debated upon the right of a family to
select any one of the million forefathers from whom they may
descend in the female line as the ancestor and founder of their
family. When we speak of a man's ancient lineage we mean,
in England at least, that his father's family was an ancient one.
Lord Alington's paternal line of Sturt begins a respectable
pedigree with a Hampshire family of the seventeenth century,
from whom rose a London alderman of the time of William
and Mary. The nearest Alington ancestor of the late peer
was his great-grandfather's mother's mother. It may be
presumed that the family of Alington bred and married off as
WHAT IS BELIEVED 155
many daughters as sons, so that had Sir Hildebrand not only
marshalled the Conqueror's army but also enjoyed an objec-
tive existence, the privilege of descent from him might have
been shared by most living Englishmen. It is true that the
late Lord Alington was heir-general to the extinct Alingtons,
barons of Horseheath, but such a descent does not in itself
give the boast of ' ancient lineage ' to the family enjoying it.
# * *
Mr. R. Cavendish, whilst contradicting in a letter to the
newspapers the incorrect statement that the Dukes of Devon-
shire spring from the famous servant and biographer of Wol-
sey, brings to light an ancient and half forgotten ancestor of
the Cavendishes. According to Mr. Cavendish,
The Duke is a lineal descendant of Roger de Gernon, who came over 1 , with
the Conqueror.
For a hundred years even the peerages have been dis-
allowing Roger de Gernon's claim as a Cavendish ancestor.
That the tale of him should re-appear in the twentieth cen-
tury shows that the Elizabethan pedigree-mongers, who set
him at the top of the Cavendish pedigree, wrote with an
immortal ink against which criticism will not prevail. No
evidence for the story of Gernon and Cavendish is forth-
coming, but we may let it rest undisturbed upon the reason-
able belief that a duke's ancestor must necessarily have landed
at Pevensey.
# * #
By the aid of the newspapers we shall soon make of these
columns a patchwork Golden Book of those English families
which look down upon our Norman-English houses as the
children of new men and interlopers. The growing passion
for genealogy demands that a piece of pedigree should follow
each newspaper paragraph announcing death or marriage or
social and political distinction. Our first Saxon shall be Sir
Thomas Edward Milborne-Swinnerton-Pilkington.
The Pilkingtons are a family who held a good estate long before the Conquest,
and the single name, held in honour in the north for many centuries, was a good
enough description until the eighth baronet married Mary, second daughter
and coheiress of Thomas Swinnerton of Butterton Hall.
For a commentary on this statement the reader of the
Ancestor may turn the page to Mr. Bird's learned article on
156 THE ANCESTOR
the Traffords, where he will hear from one speaking with
authority that ' the early history of the Pilkingtons is all un-
known ; but instead of being Saxon irreconcilables they were
more probably on the side of the invader, for Pilkington was
held of the baron [of Manchester] by knight's service.' The
first part of Mr. Bird's statement was admitted by the family
when a volume of Pilkington genealogies was printed some
years since, for no pre-Conquest ancestor was produced, and
the earlier generations from the Conquest were occupied with
improbably named knights for whom, as was admitted, no
apology could be made to the antiquary.
*
The Duke of Norfolk's marriage, as might have been ex-
pected, brought Hereward the Wake a dozen times bowing
before the curtain. A single quotation will serve for many.
The Duke's ancestry goes to the back of beyond of history. He shares King
Edward's Plantagenet ancestry, and so comes from the Saxon Kings. Perhaps
his proudest boast is that his name of Howard is merely that of his ancestor,
Hereward the Wake, whose representative, Sir Herewald Wake, is still in North-
amptonshire, as his family has been for over six centuries. He is the fifteenth
holder of his dukedom, and but for mysterious attainders, which were subse-
quently cancelled, would be about the nineteenth.
* * *
It is the misfortune of the great house of Howard of
Norfolk that their high estate has made them the sport of
pedigree-mongers. ' Aubery, earl of Passey,' at some vague
pre-conquest date was for a long time the forefather of whom
the genealogist exhorted them to make ' their proudest boast.'
But Aubery, having watched for a while at the head of the
pedigree, was relieved by the more famous name of the half-
mythical Hereward, from whom, as Dugdale relates, ( some
have not stuck to derive ' the house of Norfolk, the Hereward
who was already pressed as an ancestor for the Northampton-
shire Wakes. In both cases the Hereward myth rests upon the
assertions of genealogists as impudent as unskilful, and it is
worthy of note that whilst the Wakes have taken the fabrica-
tion to their hearts, the great family pedigree made by Howards
for Howards is content to derive their famous line from their
first known ancestor, William Howard, a judge in 1293. In
the face of this fact it is surely a hard thing that the descendant
of the victor of Flodden should have a myth thrust upon him
to which his family have ever refused countenance.
WHAT IS BELIEVED . 157
Arundel Castle has also been stormed and taken by the
paragraphers. Again it is proclaimed that the mere ownership
of Arundel gives an earldom to the duke, a statement incon-
sistent with the fact that the earldom of Arundel is enjoyed by
the duke under the entail created by an Act of 1627. At least
one of our illustrated journals has discovered a line of earls of
Arundel before the conquest, ending with Harold son of
Godwin, Earl of Arundel and king of the English. And the
foundations of Arundel Castle are described to us as of herring-
bone brickwork, and therefore of the age of the Druids !
* # *
An evening paper enables us to welcome back to the
printed line and the light of day a picturesquely named an-
cestor. Lady Clifford of Chudleigh, who is to break a bottle
over the prow of the Devonshire, is hailed as
a Towneley of Towneley a Lancastrian family that reckons itself up as
Lords of Towneley since the remote antiquity of Spartlingus, Dean of
Whalley.
Spartlingus of the ninth century, in his remote antiquity,
is safe from questioning genealogists. It is an unlikely thing
that any record will leap to light to gratify the entirely modern
taste for demanding proofs of kinship. Whitaker, in his his-
tory of Whalley, accepted in simple faith Spartlingus and his
line, which line included a Towneley ancestor with the even
pleasanter name of Liwlphus Cutwolphe, of whom is told,
says Whitaker, ' a wild and picturesque story that he cut off
the tail of a wolf while hunting in Rossendale.' This may be
an early instance of the taking of a brush, but in any case we
have an interesting note of what in the eyes of the learned
Whitaker gave wildness and picturesqueness to a story.
* * *
But the Towneley ancestor is not to be found amongst the
Deans of Whalley, but in John o' the Legh, a fourteenth cen-
tury gentleman who married a coheir of the old lords of Towne-
ley. As will be imagined, the Clifford paragraph in reciting the
honours of Clifford includes the shadowy countship of the
Holy Roman Empire derived from a marriage with an Arun-
dell of Wardour. An article in an earlier volume of the
Ancestor has pointed out that the doctrine which gives the
countship to Lord Clifford would fill Europe with counts of
the empire.
158 THE ANCESTOR
Our next Anglo-Saxon is Lord Derby. A very busy
paragraph taking many forms and sometimes expanding to
an article, may be recorded in its shortest form :
Lord Derby had an ancestor in England William Stanley of Stanley
fifty years before the battle of Hastings.
The origin of such an ancestral tale is as a rule not far to seek.
The nearest peerage will afford in its first paragraph of * line-
age ' a closely packed version of the Elizabethan or Victorian
family legend upon which the fore-conquest ancestor may
stand. The peerage if consulted under Derby will certainly
give antiquity to the Stanleys with no grudging hand. With
Adam they begin, not Adam the lord of Eden garden, but
Adam de Aldithley, who accompanied Duke William from
Aldithley in Normandy, a fair town without doubt, and as
improbably named as any Norman lordship we have yet
encountered. But even this generous narrative does not
give the manor of Stanley and the surname derived from it
to any direct ancestor of the Earl of Derby nearer to the
Conquest than Adam's grandson.
We may be unduly suspicious of treachery our English
nerves under a halfpenny press are no longer what they were
under a penny press but we resent William Stanley of
Stanley's presence in England fifty years before the unfortu-
nate incident of the battle of Hastings. To us he is a sus-
picious character, this pretended Englishman with the very
French name of William. In our opinion he was nothing
better than a Norman spy, and we despise our Staffordshire
forefathers in that they did not suspect him, if only for the
sham English surname with which he disguised himself, at a
date long before territorial surnames obtained in England.
Genealogists with Lord Derby's pedigree at heart, a pedigree
which the commonplace facts and dates of records would
probably carry to the twelfth century, should bestir them-
selves and see whether ' William de Stanley of Stanley,' circa
1016, cannot be escorted to the frontiers of history.
A FIFTEENTH CENTURY ROLL OF ARMS
(Continued from Vol. VII. 215)
Gules a wave silver between six billets silver. RYCHARD
CHARPYS [vet CHAPPYS].
Silver a bend sable with a silver wolf running thereon. TOMAS
WOLWELEY.
Sable a cheveron silver between three ladies' heads silver cut
off at the neck. JOHN KYLWYNGETON.
Gules and ermine quarterly with a goat's head razed silver in
each gules quarter. RYCHARD MORTON.
Gold three cheverons gules with three golden flews de lys on
each. SIR FITZ RAWFE.
Sable three leaping goats silver. JOHN GAYTFORDE.
Gules powdered with crosslets fitchy silver and three silver
fleurs de lys out of silver leopards' heads. SIR HARREY
NEVYLLE.
Ermine a bend sable with three silver goats' heads razed
thereon. SIR TOMAS MOWLSOW.
Sable a cheveron gules between three silver cups without
covers. JOHN CAUNDYSCH.
Quarterly ermine and azure with a rising falcon of gold in the
azure quarters. WYLYAM COLLENGE.
Green a bend gules with three golden * cinqfoils thereon.
Azure six lioncels silver and a quarter ermine. SIR JOHN
CHAYNE.
1 The colours of the bend and the cinqfoils are perhaps mistaken.
169
i6o
THE ANCESTOR
Green a cheveron silver with three harts' heads gules.
Silver three bellows sable. JOHN SHYPTON.
Gules a lion sable with ermyne appon the sabyll. TOMAS TYM-
PYRLEY.
Silver three fleurs de lys gules. JOHN OSBERNE.
Gold three lions' heads sable razed. NYCOLAS KENTON.
Sable two silver greyhounds with collars rampant back to back
and looking back at each other. NYCLAS BARNARD.
Azure three swimming roach silver. SIR JOHN ROCHE.
Silver a chief gules with a sable martlet in the chief. GYLBERD
WAUTON.
Azure three golden dolphins. TOMAS WARRE.
Azure with drops of gules and a cheveron gold between three
golden lions' heads razed. TOMAS WYNDHAM.
Wavy gules and silver. JOHN PELMORBA.
Purple a cheveron gold engrailed between three fleurs de lys
gold. PYERSSE OSSANNE.
Silver a lion cheeky gold and azure. SIR RAWFE DE COBHAM.
Gules three lions passant ermine with crowns of gold. TOMAS
FELTON.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS
161
Silver three bearded Saracens' heads * of sable with golden
wreaths. TOMAS WYSE.
Gules four lions silver and a silver quarter with a crescent
gules thereon.
... a cross engrailed of sable between four green does' heads
cut off at the neck.
Sable a buckled garter between three buckle ends. JOHN
BOKELAND.
Azure three hanks of silver twine wound about three golden
sticks. 2 WYLYAM HONTT.
Silver three horse barnacles sable. WYLYAM BARNARD [rectius
BARNAKE].
Sable a silver swan with a golden crescent on his breast.
TOMAS COLBY.
1 The heads may be those of the three wise men.
2 The charges are somewhat uncertain.
162
THE ANCESTOR
Ermine three running unicorns of gules. WYLYAM UPP TOMAS.
Sable a cheveron silver between three pair of interlaced
triangles or pentacles of silver.
Silver two crossed grosyng eyrnes between four malets [corrected
in a later hand to nayles] all sable and a chief azure with
a demi-leopard [GLASIERS COTE *] passant gold.
OLDE LORDYS OF TYME PAST
Vairy. LORD AMONDWYLE.
Gules a fesse vair between three fleurs de lys out of leopards'
heads. LORD CANTLEY [CANTELOW].
Silver a chief indented azure.
Quarterly gold and gules with a border vair. [FITZ JOHN/]
Gold a bend vair and a border gules engrailed.
Azure a bend and six martlets of gold.
Gules a bend engrailed gold. [MARSHALL. 1 ]
Azure six lioncels gold. [Over this shield is written 'The
armes of seynt Tybbaute vj crosseys botton pychey of gold the
filld gules. Under the shield in a later hand is LONGSPEE.]
A fesse between six crosslets formy fitchy all party athwart and
countercoloured silver and sable. WYLYAM COTYNGHAM.
Azure a bend gules with three silver dolphins thereon. SEWYN
EDNAM.
Silver a dance paly gules and sable between three pierced
molets sable. [MooRE. 1 ]
Sable three pickaxes silver. EDEMOND CHYRE [also PIGOT l ].
Over this shield is pasted another Gold a lion azure and
a label gules. COUNT DE WORCESTYR.
Gules a silver fesse engrailed between three bulls' heads gold.
TOMAS TORRELL.
1 In a later hand.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS 163
Silver a cheveron gules between three lodged harts of gules.
SYMOND HEGGYS.
Sable a pair of wings points upwards razed from the shoulder.
JOHN BRESYNGHAM.
Silver two waves sable and a chief sable with a leopard gold
thereon. STEWYN PERCY.
Gold three bulls' heads gules. WYLYAM BOULL.
Party silver and azure cheveronwise with three pomanders [?]
hanging each from a chain and ring, the one in the foot
being gold, the others having no colour shown. SIR
TOMAS OF BRETLYS.
Sable a fesse ermine between three cups silver. WYLYAM OF
GRANTHAM.
Silver three plain crosses fitchy sable with a border gules.
TOMAS CHESENALE.
Green six lioncels silver.
Gules three golden eel-bucks.
Silver a cheveron between three eagles gules. SIR ROBARD
FRAUNCYS.
Azure a bend gold with four [sic] pierced molets of silver
thereon. 1 WYLYAM RYNGEBORNE.
Sable three wells silver. WYLYAM BORTON.
Gules four bars ermine and a border ermine. SIR NYCOLL
DABERYCHCORT. 2
Azure three horse heads gold cut off at the neck with silver
bridles. JOHN HORSLEYE.
Azure a crescent gold between three fleurs de lys gold. JOHN
FLORRE.
Silver three roundels gules each azure and gules cheveronny.
WYLYAM CARRANT.
Green a cheveron gold between three pierced molets gold.
SIR JOHN POUDSAY.
Gules a cheveron azure between three owls silver. JOHN
SLYE.
Gold a hart's head gules. WYLYAM POLE.
Silver and sable gyronny with a quarter gules and a silver cup
thereon. JOHN STRETLEY.
Gules three pomelled crosslets fitchy gold. SEYNT TYBAWTE
1 The great plenty of shields with what the heraldry books style * colour
on colour ' and * metal on metal ' will be noted.
3 The Dabridgecourt shield is misapprehended, being really of ermine
with three hamedes ( = barriers or trunked bars) of gules.
164
THE ANCESTOR
knyght. The blazon of this shield on an earlier page calls
them bottony, which is probably the accurate contemporary
blazon.
Silver a chief of green with a T-cross between two pierced
molets of gold. HARRY DREWRY.
Gules a fesse silver between three chessrooks silver with three
roses gules on the fesse. JOHN ROKYS.
Gold three bars gules and a quarter ermine. NYCOLAS GAW-
SELL.
Silver a fesse of green indented with sable and a border sable.
JOHN HODY.
Gold six voided lozenges sable (three and three). WYLYAM
CREDY.
Sable a fesse ermine engrailed between three hawks silver with
their bells and jesses. JOHN FAWKYS.
Silver a saltire and a chief of gules with three silver escallops
in the chief. SIR WATYR TAYLBOYS.
Sable a fesse silver between three goats' heads razed ermine.
JOHN FERBY.
Silver a chief gules and six martlets countercoloured. SIR
HARRY FENWYK.
Gules a bend azure with three golden fleurs de lys thereon.
SIR JOHN CHAYNE.
Azure three piles gold. SIR GYE DE BRYAN.
Bendy azure and gold with a quarter ermine. SIR WYLYAM
BYSCHOPPYSTON.
... a dance paly gules and sable between three pierced mo-
lets . . .
Azure a fesse gold between three golden urchins. JOHN
ABBRALL.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS
.65
Sable a dance gold between three martlets gold. JOHN SKOG-
GAM.
WHYCHECOTE of Lyncolneshire berytb iij bores gules w* a fyld of
silver. The boars are one under the other. The shield
is crossed out.
Gold a lodged hart azure. JOHN TREDERFFE.
Silver a chief gules with a golden lion over all. TOMAS
CHAWSERYS.
Party azure and green with three voided cheverons . . .
JOHN SAYE/
Gules a silver hand between three silver cinqfoils. RYCHARD
WORSOPPE.
Gules six billets of ermine.
Burelly ermyn and ermyne. WYLYAM BEDFORD.
Gules a cross silver bylytte of sabyll. TOMAS GAMSON.
Sable two bars gold and a chief silver with a crescent sable
thereon. SIR RYCHARD FROGNALE.
1 Sir John Saye of Broxbourne, for whose coat this seems to be meant, bore
party azure and gules with three golden voided cheverons, the field within the
cheverons being party gules and azure.
1 66
THE ANCESTOR
Silver a cheveron gules between three green sheaves of broom.
ToMAS PoRTHALYNE.
Party silver and gules. SIR RYCHARD WALGRAWE.
Sable a cheveron silver between three harts' heads silver with
horns of gold. JOHN HERTTLYNGTON.
Wavy sable and silver. SIR GYLBERD DELAFELD.
Gules a border silver with roundels of gules.
Azure a leaping fox of silver carrying off a goose.
Gold a bend sable between two more of sable engrailed.
WHYTFELDE.
Ermine a chief indented sable with two boars' heads of gold
armyd w* sylver. HARRY SOULBY. [SANDFORD idem. 1 ]
Sable three [running ?] goats silver, one below the other,
with bells at their collars. JAMYS STANSFELDE.
Party silver and gules with a bend countercoloured. [CHAU-
SER. 1 ]
Gold two corbies sable. CORBETT OF MARTON.
1 In a later hand.
Ik
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS 167
A silver cheveron with the field gules above and gold below
and a raven in the foot. JOHN MARCHALL.
Silver two bars gules and three cocks gules in the chief.
WYLYAM BLAUXTON.
[Party silver and sable a fesse and three trefoils in the chief
all countercoloured. 1 ] JOHN CUNTUN.
Gules crusilly silver with two bars and six leopards' heads of
gold. KYNGE HARALDE.
Sable three luces silver, two being crossed heads downward
behind the third. SIR WYLYAM TROUDBEKKE.
Ermine three pairs of bellows of gules.
The f eld syhyr a woyde crosse of s a by II a schoychon of gold [with]
an egyll splayed of sabyll.
A beryth asewre a lyon passant of gold [with] a towre pynakelyd
and enbataylyd of the same [upon his back].
[Quartyrly] syhyr and gowlys iiij crosse ferdemolyne of the same
[that is, countercoloured].
A beryth synobyll vj loucys eyronde of syhyr.
A beryth asewre iij serpentys hedys of gold rasyd the tongys of gold
crosletwyse.
A beryth a poynt syhyr the chefe enty of asewre v crosse forme of
gold [in the chief].
Silver a chief gules with a millrind cross voided and counter-
coloured lying saltirewise.
Azure a bend party gules and gold and a border engrailed
party gold and gules. EMONDE PRYORE.
Sable three silver lilies with stalks and leaves and a chief party
azure and gules with a fleur de lys gold and a leopard
gold.
Gules a chief sable indented with three escallops silver.
1 Shield struck out.
1 68 THE ANCESTOR
Silver six fleurs de lys azure and a chief gold indented. JOHN
PASTON.
Gules a cheveron gold between three silver combs.
Party gold and gules with a dolphin upright countercoloured.
Azure three pairs of crossed keys of silver and a chief gules
with three silver dolphins upright. [THE FISHMONGERS. 1 ]
Party azure and gules with a saltire countercoloured between
four golden crescents.
Ermine an arched chief of gules with a single label pendant [?]
of ermine hanging from the top.
Party palewise and cheveronwise silver and azure counter-
coloured with a fleur de lys azure in the first quarter and
another of silver [sic] in the fourth.
Silver a pale gules indented.
Party sable and gold cheveronwise and battled with three
lions countercoloured.
Azure an eagle silver within a [single] flowered tressure of
silver. WAN PAGE.
Party cheveronwise sable and ermine with two leopards' heads
silver in the chief.
Party gold and gules with a fesse between three leopards'
heads all countercoloured.
Party cheveronwise gules and gold with a crescent counter-
coloured. [CHAPMAN. 1 ]
Party silver and sable with ermine tails countercoloured and a
chief ermine with five lozenges gules.
Sable a leopard rampant with one head and two bodies.
[COMBERTON. 1 ]
Gules a unicorn rampant checkered silver and sable.
Party ermine and azure with a fesse countercoloured.
Gules three luces silver with an orle of crosslets fitchy silver.
[LUCEY. 1 ]
Party azure and silver bendwise indented with three pierced
molets of gules in the azure cantel.
Silver two piles of gules crossed saltirewise between four fleurs
de lys of gules.
Nine pieces gold and azure with four fleurs de lys of gold.
[COTTES. 1 ]
A bend quarterly gules and ermine in a field party gules and
sable saltirewise.
1 In a later hand.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS
169
Party gules and azure with a two-headed eagle party silver
and gold.
Gules a pale sable bezanty between six crescents ermine. Les
armys PYLCHARDE.
Party gold and azure with a rampant leopard countercoloured.
[STONNE. 1 ]
Silver three piles sable with three golden rams' heads cut off
at the neck in the chief. [YoNGE. 1 ]
Gold flowered with azure and a chief azure indented.
Gyronny gules and sable with a cross gyronny of ermine
and sable.
Azure three golden triple crowns of the pope each standing
upon a cloud of gules with beams of gold. [DRAPERS'
COMPANY. 1 ]
1 In a later hand.
170
THE ANCESTOR
Azure three pierced molets of gold and a chief gules with
another chief battled silver. RYCHARD NORRYS.
Silver a portcullis sable.
Silver a dance sable with three golden luces heads razed
thereon.
France and England quarterly with an azure border with
golden martlets.
Silver a lion with a forked tail party athwart gules and sable.
Party sable and gold bendwise indented with a millrind cross
gold in the sable cantel.
Azure with cloudwaves of silver [five shown].
Silver three crapawdys [toads] of sable.
Nine pieces gold and azure with four pierced lozenges of gold.
ROBARDE PRYKKE.
Three figures of 6 [?] sable.
Azure three distaffs (or fishing floats) of silver.
Party sable and silver cheveronwise with three crosslets fitchy
countercoloured .
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS 171
Gold three [uncertain charges] sable.
Quarterly silver and gules with four roses [countercoloured ?].
Six pieces azure and gold with three golden griddles. [GiRD-
LERS' COMPANY. 1 ]
Six pieces sable and silver with three demi-lions silver.
Silver a cheveron sable between three trivets sable.
Party silver and sable battled with a golden Catherine wheel
over all.
1 In a later hand.
172
THE ANCESTOR
Six pieces azure and silver with iij synettys rowsand of \syhyr
crownyd [about their necks] and cbaynyd of gold dysmembryd
ixf goulys. ADAM Goo DALE Serg* at Armes, not soo. This
coat is given later in an amended form.
Syhyr iij roys ofgowlys regardande. 1 JOHN OSYN.
Party azure and gules bendwise a golden lion with a forked
tail looking backward and holding a silver harp.
Quarterly sable and silver with a lion countercoloured.
Silver a pale indented azure.
Eight pieces sable and gules with a saltire over all. JOHN
HALYS.
1 The roes are looking backward. Note this early example of the heralds'
floundering French, which has given regardant in modern armory the meaning
of looking backward. Here regardant is the more accurate translation of look-
ing backward into the French of medieval blazonry, and as late as the grant of
the Seymour augmentation in 1547 the English leopards are described in the
redundant blazon of the grant as regardant.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS
A fesse between six crosslets formy fitchy, the whole shield
party athwart and countercoloured of silver and sable.
WYLYAM COTYNGHAM.
Silver a pale indented gules. HARRY HALLE.
Gules a cheveron engrailed and three silver dolphins upright.
Gold a ship with mast, sail and pennon of sable.
Gold a chief gules with three bulls' heads countercoloured.
WYLYAM BULLE.
Ermine a saltire sable with five fleurs de lys of silver. WYLYAM
BYLYNGEDON.
Azure three harts silver.
Party silver and sable nebuly.
Azure three ounces [or leopards after their kind] rampant
silver.
Silver two bars gules with three cinqfoils in the chief.
WYLYAM DENTTON.
M
i/4 THE ANCESTOR
Gules a cheveron ermine between three golden portcullises.
[CLEMENT FvscHCOK. 1 ]
Azure a scutcheon of silver with an orle of crosses formy of
gold. SIR PYERSE de BERESYE.
Nine pieces ermine and silver with four millrinds or millstone
turners of sable. [TuRNER. 1 ]
Silver a chief sable and a bull's head countercoloured.
Ermine a chief azure bezanty. HEMYNEFORDE.
Gules a lion checkered ermine and sable.
Ermine a cheveron sable with three chessrooks sable in the
chief.
Party bendwise sable and gules with three crescents party
sable and silver lying in the bend.
Ermine a chief indented azure with three trefoils ermine
thereon.
Azure and gules party cheveronwise with a line of cloud or
nebuly line anewyd w* aseure between three silver bulls'
heads with golden horns.
JOHN WYLD berytb sabyll a cbeveron ermyne iij wylkys of syhyr.
JOHN HEMYNGBOURGH berytb ermyn a cbeveron counterbataylyd
goulys iij torteys of the same yn the cbefe.
TOMAS PORTHELYNE berytb syhyr a cheveron goulys iij popye
bolles of wert dessendaunte [that is to say, poppyheads with
their stalks].
Gold three bars azure 3 powdered with fleurs de lys. 3
Gules three hawks' bells of gold, the field sown with golden
trefoils. OLEPHERNUS.
Azure a saltire engrailed gold with a double tressure flory
gules over all. SIR DEGREWAUNT.
Gules three ermytys hedys of silver cut off at the neck, their
cowls thrown back. ERMYTE.
Party gules and gold cheveronwise and battled with three
lions countercoloured. WYWOLDE.
Sable a lion silver with three bastons of gules.
Party ermine and gules with a wave countercoloured.
Nine pieces silver and azure with four golden lions in the
silver. STOKLEY.
1 In a later hand.
2 Probably for burelly.
3 The fleurs de lys are demi fleurs de lys, each being drawn as issuing from
the bar below it.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS 175
Sable a cheveron engrailed silver between three silver owls.
[HEWETT OF STAFFS.*]
Gold three bends gules and a chief .... with another chief of
silver charged with three fleurs de lys sable. NORMAN,
draper [of London ]. 1
Gules a cheveron silver and sable vairy between three pierced
molets of silver. SIR JOHN STOCTON.
Here is a recipe for a hot unguent for the Syetyka, which is
followed by another recipe against the same disease. This
second recipe demands an olde gose agandder [goosey
gander] within whose body is to be put all the fleysch of a
catte well brokyn, with a swyne fote wytb the klee on y wyrgyn
wex, sewety honey, salt and other matters, which will
render the dripping of the goose not only a medicine
against the sciatica, but a presyas oynement all so for the
gowfe. This noble recipe was written to a king of Eng-
land from the unewersyte of Selaren [Salerno].
Party gules and silver bendwise with a lion countercoloured.
Party sable and gold cheveronwise with two golden roses in
the chief.
Azure three bellows of gold each with its silver pype towards
the midst of the shield.
1 In a later hand.
THE ANCESTOR
'The armys of oure lord Jesew cryst after the forme of the passyon.
The shield in the hand is ! azure with the silver vernicle, the
banner azure with a silver lamb, the cup and nimbus gold.
On the skirt is written This is made from godes cote. The
helm mantle made of the seamless coat is rosset, the crest
gold, the wreath green.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS 177
The shields beside the figure of Christ are these :
Party sable and gules with a man's leg of silver cut off at
the thigh.
Six pieces gules and silver with iij ostryc\bes\ rowsyng in
the gules. ADAM GOODALE, sergaunt of army s.
Azure a sun of gold. KYNGE OF ARRABY.
[Gold two snakes upright and wreathed together. 1 ] ROY DE
BERBERYE.
Azure three capital S's of gold. ROY DE JESSE.
Barry gold and sable of eight pieces with the green * kranz-
lein' bend. DEWKE DE SAXSON.
Azure a cross gold between twelve golden fleurs de lys with
the crucified figure of Christ, gules upon the cross. THE
BYSCHOPPE RYGE.
Gold four lions sable. DEWKE DE HOLLONDE.
Lozengy silver and azure bendwise. DEWKE DE BAVARIE.
[Azure flowered with gold with a bend gules. DEWKE DE
BURBUN. 2 ]
Gules a fesse silver. DEWKE DE OSTRYCHE [AUSTRIA].
1 This shield is struck out, and at the foot of the page another is drawn as
the tretuer gold two beasts with dragon heads and lions' fore feet, back to
back, with neck and tails writhed together.
8 Struck out.
i 7 8
THE ANCESTOR
The army s of oure lorde drawe owte of the passyon.
A shield with these arms is beside the figure :
Sable with two silver flaunches and a silver sword point
downward anowryd [adorned] w* gold pomell and
byltte.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY ARMS
179
Azure three bulls' heads silver, the tongues gules. The armys
of ISRAHELL.
Gold with roundels of gules and three serpents gliding sable.
ROY DE EGIPCIE.
Azure three spears of gold bendwise each with pointed pen-
nons of gules. ROY DE CALDEORUN.
Gold four voided bars gules battled on both sides. ROY DE
MASSYDONIE.
Gules a luce's or whale's head silver coming from the sinister
side and crowned gold. ROY DE AFFERYK.E.
Gold three green popinjays, one under the other with their
wings rising. REX DE INDIA.
Azure a golden cloth hung over a golden rail which is cut off
at both ends. IMPERATOR DE SALDACH.
Barry of eight pieces gold and gules battled and counter-
battled. This is evidently meant for a like shield to that
of the King of Macedonia, four shields before this, for on
one of the golden bars is written the f eld sene tborowe and
the f eld is said to be gules.
Azure three running griffons of silver annyd w* old. REX DE
PERSYA.
Sable a T-cross of syhyr anewyd w* aseure. SEYNT ANTONY
armys.
Gules two crossed keys of silver. SEYNT PETER POPE.
Gules a silver column dominipapa [sic] de COLUMPNE [Colonna]
Rome.
i8o
THE ANCESTOR
I I L I 711. .Illlll
_ _ // //I (I Kl l\
Lrn u . 'jAii* n
^/^5>v^>
Azure a golden cross potent fitchy. SCANCTUS JEREOMIIS [sic].
Green with a silver eagle. SANCTUS MAURICIUS.
Azure a silver cross potent fitchy between four golden A's.
SANCTUS ALBYNUS Anglya.
Azure a charbocle of gold. SANCTUS MARTIN Episcopus.
Sable three crosslets fitchy of gold and a border gules with
broad arrow heads silver. SANCTUS SEBASTIANUS.
Azure a chief gold with a lion gules over all. SANCTUS
REYNOLDUS myks.
The remainder of the MS. is taken up with a roll of
fifty-four picture shields of European potentates and nobles,
most of them German.
[In the next volume of the Ancestor will appear a key and index of all names
contained in this book of arms. A list of errata will be added, which is speci-
ally needful as the earlier portion of the book was printed off before proof
correction.]
OUR OLDEST FAMILIES
XL THE OGLES
THE very ancient Northumbrian house of
Ogle begins, in the account of them written
by Roger Dodsworth of York in 1641, with c a
certain Humphrey, a very distinguished man
who lived and flourished about the time of
William the Conqueror/ By the time his
labours came to be set forth in pedigree form
Master Dodsworth's researches found that
Humphrey's life could not fairly be extended to the Con-
queror's time. But Master Dodsworth was ' the most humble
and faithful servant ' of ' the most illustrious hero Lord
William Cavendish . . . Earl of Newcastle, and in the right
of the most excellent heroine Lady Catherine his mother,
Baron Ogle, Bertram of Bothale and Hephale,' and decency
demanded that the pedigree of so great a lord should be carried
to the famous date of 1066. Therefore a father must be
found for the distinguished Humphrey, and the pedigree
begins with one * De Ogle, tempore Willelmi Conquestoris,'
a pictured ancestor who, with the shield of Ogle upon his
right arm, points his left hand to the line of descendants below
him. No criticism can attack this father of the race, although
his surname may be held unproven, for Humphrey must
have sprung from human loins, although his father need not
have been written ' of Ogle.'
Sir Henry Ogle, the author of the great chronicle of the
family printed in 1902, is perhaps prepared to follow too far
Dodsworth's method of extending the family pedigree by
simple logic, for at the head of his prefatory sketch we
read that ' it is evident that prior to the date on which docu-
mentary evidence exists, from which the descent of the family
is deduced, some ancestor must have existed between the
eighth and ninth centuries.' This cannot be denied, but the
value of the statement is discounted when we remember that
the humblest family may make the like truthful boast, and
that after all * we are a' Jock Thomson's bairns.'
181
1 82 THE ANCESTOR
Concerning the surname of Ogle little need be said. Sir
Henry Ogle's disquisition concerning ' the race or personal
name of Oghhul in the fifth century ' is not to the point. For
the Ogle family the facts should be simple enough, it being
evident that they draw their name from their manor of Ogle,
a place name which is probably one of the many northern
place names which are compounds of gill, which signifies a
ravine or chasm.
The story of the race of Ogle may be allowed to begin
after all with Humphrey of Ogle, who although no com-
panion or adversary of the Conqueror is found living with his
foot on Northumbrian ground, and that ground the lands of
Ogle. In an undated charter, which is probably of the first
half or middle of the twelfth century, Walter Fitz William
grants to Humphrey of ' Hoggel ' the right to make his mill,
and to have the multure or mill-rights of his own land. This
deed was seen and copied by Dodsworth at Welbeck Abbey,
and Dodsworth's good faith and the existence of the deed
is attested by the fact that multuram is misread by him as
culturum, and translated as the right of * cultivation.' To
another deed of the same Walter, made about the same date,
Humphrey of Ogle is a witness with Gilbert his son.
In 1 1 66, one hundred years after the Conquest, Walter fitz
William, the king's baron of Northumberland, returns Gil-
bert of ' Hoggal ' as one of his knights enfeoffed in the new
feoffment (since 1135), and at this time Humphrey the father is
presumably dead. Gilbert occurs in the pipe rolls in 1 169 and
1170, and the same rolls give us in 1181 Robert of Oggil, who
is said to have been his son. Legend credits this Robert with
the taking of the baron of Rutherford in the wars with the
Scots. Soon after this date several Ogles are found who are
reckoned in the Ogle pedigrees as brothers of Robert. Of
these Gilbert was fined half a mark for bringing a writ against
his lord in 33 Hen. II. (1186-7), anc ^ * s a witness to a deed
c. 1209-16. His widow Agnes has a suit against Roger Ogle
in 1221.
From a tangle of Ogles we draw Thomas of Ogle, who is
found in the pipe rolls in 1219, 1220 and 1221. He is the chief
of his house, and is returned in 20 Hen. III. as holding Ogle and
half of Burradon. At present we can but guess at his parent-
age. Sir Henry Ogle is ready to make him son of one Richard
Ogle, but this pedigree falls to pieces in handling. His reason-
OUR OLDEST FAMILIES 183
ing seems to be as follows. Thomas of Ogle is witness to an
undated charter with his younger brother Roger. In 40
Hen. III. Roger fitz Richard, as son of Richard of Ogle who
died three years before, is plaintiff in an assize roll in a suit
against William of Madle concerning a lease of lands in Rip-
lington. Therefore Thomas is also son of Richard, being
brother to Roger.
But in Roger the son of Richard we have evidently a second
Roger, for being heir to his father in 40 Hen. III., he cannot
be younger brother to Thomas, who left sons to succeed him.
Thomas would seem to be heir to Gilbert, and may have been
his son by Agnes, or more probably by an earlier wife. At
the same time Agnes is pursuing Roger concerning lands in
Burradon. Roger has given half a mark for a precipe against
Thomas concerning lands also in Burradon, which he holds
of Thomas by his deed. It may be then that Agnes, who has
her dower in the Burradon lands held by Thomas the elder
brother, is suing for her dower in the portion in which Thomas
has given his younger brother a maintenance, for Thomas,
we remind ourselves, is returned lord of half Burradon in
20 Hen. III.
Sir John of Ogle, son of Thomas, comes to establish the
pedigree henceforward with deeds such as that by which (in
1295-6) he gives to his son Robert a ploughland in Ogle,
describing himself as John, son of Thomas of Ogle. This Sir
John is famous in border story, and a tale, fragrant with the
true romance of the fourteenth century, tells how he enter-
tained at Ogle castle Sir David Dunbar, a Scots champion
who was wandering with a provocative fox-tail in his cap, and
in an after-dinner argument slew his guest with a pole-axe as
he sat at table. His seal in 1316 bears the fesse between three
crescents, which are the arms of Ogle, a shield which his
younger son John differences by taking away the fesse and
powdering the field with crosslets.
Sir Robert, son of the hospitable John, was a stout warrior
on the border, and in the Scots wars the name of Ogle rose.
He had freewarren in his lands of Ogle and elsewhere in 1341,
and for his good service in war a licence was given him to
crenellate his house. In 1346 he was one of the leaders of
those English who fought at Nevills Cross and carried King
David prisoner to the Tower. Ogle himself took the brother
of the Earl Douglas and other noble Scotsmen, and although
1 84 THE ANCESTOR
there can have been no such picking upon the Scotsmen as fell
to those who took the glittering prisoners of Cressy, the house
of Ogle was doubtless the better for certain ransoms.
Seven generations of Robert Ogles follow in direct line as
heirs of Ogle. One was prisoner after the renowned fight of
Otterburn. This Robert's mother was heir of the Bertrams,
barons of Bothal, and Robert's youngest son John was given
the Bertram name and arms and the Bertram castle of Bothal.
The elder brother, an earnest advocate of primogeniture,
hurried to Bothal as soon as the breath was out of his father,
and coming to John's door at midnight, with two hundred
men behind him, sieged him by the book with ladders and
pavises and other apparatus of war. On the fourth day Bothal
was carried by storm in despite of the entreaties of the justices
of the king's peace. But the king's writ ran even in far North-
umberland, and Robert Ogle, after a few months of possession,
drew off his men towards Ogle. Of such unruly men it may
at least be said that they ranged the border like mastiffs, and
this Sir Robert distinguished himself by retaking the town
of Wark from the Scots.
The first peer of parliament of the Ogle name was a
Robert who in 1461 was summoned as a baron by Edward IV.
Therefore it will be seen that he was a partisan of the white
rose. He came safely through the wars and died in his bed
in 1469. His son, the second lord, who bore the curious name
of Ewyn, was at the battle of Stoke, and it is suggested that
he died of his wounds taken therein. He married a daughter
of Hilton of Hilton, concerning whom Sir Henry Ogle has the
truly magnificent tale that the race sprang ' from a Saxon
maiden confined in a tower on the banks of the Wear to pro-
tect her from a Danish chieftain, who however eventually
married her.' The end of the legend seems weak, and we hope
that Sir Henry is not bowdlerizing for us an attractive family
scandal.
The fourth Lord Ogle was at Flodden with his men arrayed
under his red crescent, to which field as the ballad hath it
Sir William Percy and Lord Ogle both came,
And Sir William Gascoigne theyr cosyn was he.
For his doings on that day the Scots had revenge in the next
generation, when the fifth lord was killed in fight on Peniel
heugh. The barony was carried away by Katherine, the
OUR OLDEST FAMILIES 185
surviving daughter of Cuthbert, the seventh lord. She was
wife of Sir Charles Cavendish, and for her son William, baron
of Ogle, first earl of Ogle, Duke of Newcastle, and a knight
of the Garter, did Ralph Dodsworth make the great pedi-
gree of Ogle in 1646. Two generations later the old barony
of Ogle was lost amongst coheirs of the second duke, who
died in 1691. Lord Howard de Walden is now the senior
coheir.
From Ralph the third lord, who died in 1513, descended
many cadet lines of Ogle, his fourth son, John Ogle of Kirkley,
founding the family now represented by Newton Charles Ogle,
of Kirkley and Ogle, whose grandfather bought from the
Portland family the lands of the ancient barony of Ogle, which
are thus in the hands of the heir male of the old house. A
wall of the old castle still hangs over the farmhouse upon its
site.
Chaloner Ogle, born in 1729, as a fourth son of the Kirkley
house, entered the navy in 1742, and died senior admiral in
1816. He was an active officer, and although his ill luck kept
him out of the fight of Ushant and gave him an ill place in
Sir George Rodney's action at Gibraltar, he was a hawk to the
French privateers, and had a long list of sea duels to his name.
In March of 1816 the Prince Regent gave the old officer a
patent of a baronetcy, and in August of the same year he died
at his seat of Worthy in Hampshire.
Of his sons two died at sea as midshipmen. The third son,
Sir Charles Ogle, was on the books of the Resolution four days
after his baptism ! and lived to serve under Jervis, Parker and
Nelson ; but his father's luck followed him, and his frigate,
the Unite, was detached to a station off Cape St. Vincent
before Lord Nelson's fleet came to Trafalgar Bay. He lived
till 1858. Sir Charles's brother Thomas, a major of the
Royal Fusiliers, was killed on the beach of Aboukir Bay, when
landing under the guns of the fleet in which was his brother's
frigate, the Greyhound. Alone amongst the old admiral sons
James Ogle, the youngest, stayed at home, and died rector
of Bishops Waltham. His son Edmund succeeded to the
baronetcy as sixth baronet in 1885, and died a general in the
army in 1887.
The general's second son, Sir Henry Asgill Ogle, seventh
baronet, retired from the navy as a captain in 1897. He was
in command of the naval brigade at the end of that disastrous
1 86 THE ANCESTOR
day of Majuba, and has been a deputy commissioner of the
Western Pacific. More than this, he has occupied himself
in his retirement with the making of a great chronicle of
the name and house of Ogle, which he printed privately in
1902.
O. B.
T
THE WESTBURY CUP
AN ANCIENT SCANDAL
HE churchwardens' accounts of the ancient town of
Westbury in Wiltshire record that on 6 November,
5
At this meeting the Rev. Stafford Brown mentioned his intention, with the
concurrence of the churchwardens of Westbury, and the chapelwardens of
Dilton, of applying the old communion plate belonging to Westbury towards
the purchase of new plate for the use of the chapel at Dilton.
This resolution was accordingly carried out, and new lamps
duly replaced the old ones. This was at the beginning of the
church * restoration ' mania, when scores of sixteenth and
seventeenth century chalices and patens found their way to
the silversmiths and curiosity shops.
Whether the parson of Westbury had any especial spite or
dislike to this particular vessel does not appear, or indeed
whether he knew anything about its history, other than was
notified on the piece itself, the probability however is that he
did, for there was a brief note about this cup in the county
history, which would hardly have been unknown to him. In
any case, whether it went into the melting pot or the curiosity
shop was all one to the Reverend Stafford Brown.
Fortunately the cup had the latter destination, and after
some twenty years' oblivion it reappeared in the hands of a
Brighton silversmith, from whom it passed to a London art
dealer, and from the latter to the present owner.
The apparent * uniqueness ' of this cup and its oddity as a
piece of church plate, together with the circumstantial tenor
of an inscription upon it were obviously such as to excite
curiosity and suggest research, and the writer consequently
forthwith set about making the necessary inquiries.
First, however, as to the thing itself, as it is a standing cup
with a loose detachable cover, it was to be presumed that it
was given to the church to serve as a communion cup, with
its paten, but the most cursory examination showed that it
could not have been originally made for such a use.
187
1 88 THE ANCESTOR
The cup is a solidly made piece of silver plate, richly gilt
both inside and out, in the form of an acorn, supported on a
low moulded stem, with a central knop, and round the upper
part of the cup is conspicuously engraved in cursive characters
with sundry flourishes
Given to the Church of Westbury by Collonel Wancklen and Mary Contes
of Malbrou 1671.
and on the cover are the initials of the donors in large capital
letters, T. W. & M. M.
Another singularity is the fact that the real date of the
piece is not 1671 but 1585, as shown by the hall date and
maker's marks conspicuously placed on it.
The cup therefore in its origin was evidently a piece of
English Elizabethan table or sideboard plate, though at the
first blush the writer had rushed to the conclusion that this
unusual piece presented to a church in the reign of Charles II.
by a cavalier colonel, must have been specially made, in its
particular shape in allusion to the oak-tree adventure of the
king at Boscobel, and indeed it is not unlikely that the well-
known occurrence may have in some measure prompted the
gift.
The conclusion in any case was that for special reasons,
whatever they were, this piece, probably of the old Marl-
borough family plate, was selected by the donors for presen-
tation, and the transmission of their names to posterity. Of
this, however, more anon. Such moreover was the opinion
of the supreme authority on old English plate, the late Mr.
Wilfrid Cripps, who moreover, in the plenitude of his know-
ledge, informed the writer that he knew of another sixteenth
or early seventeenth century acorn-shaped standing cup, pre-
served in a church in Leicestershire, almost identical in design
as to the upper part, but different in the make of the stem,
which was in the shape of an oak tree stem or branch. Clearly
then this cup, originally one of the Wancklen-Marlboro pre-
ciosities, was selected by the colonel and the countess for
presentation to Westbury church with the inscription newly
engraved thereon, the work being regilt and reburnished at
the same time.
But why did these people give it ? What specially moved
them to do so in 1671 ? How indeed could they have done
so, seeing that the lady died in the previous year, 1670 ?
THE WESTBURY CUP.
Hall Mark of 1585.
THE WESTBURY CUP 189
These are mysteries to be solved. Doubtless thereby hangs
a tale, probably a tangled skein, which may now never be fully
unravelled.
The first thing the writer did by way of inquiry was to
consult the county history, and he found that Hoare's Wiltshire
was the book to be looked up, and under the heading of the
Hundred of Westbury, he found the following note :
James Ley, the third and last Earl of Marlborough, who died in 1665 was
possessed of many manors in Westbury. By his will he appointed Thomas
Wancklen, Esq., commonly called Colonel Wancklen, a trustee, and it was sup-
posed that the same person married the widow of James Ley, Earl of Marl-
borough, for I find engraved on a silver chalice in the communion plate of
Westbury
' The gift of Colonel Wancklen and Mary Countes of Marlboro', 1671.'
There is however an important error in this statement,
inasmuch as the lady in question was not the wife of the third
earl, but his mother, she being the widow of Henry Ley,
second Earl of Marlborough.
The next reference was to Cokayne's Complete Peerage
extinct and dormant, and in vol. v. p. 25 occurs the following
explicit information.
Henry Ley Earl of Marlborough, b. before 1595, M.P. for Westbury 1614,
for royal Cheshire 24 Aug. 1617. Sum. to Parl. v. p. in his father's barony as
Lord Ley, taking his seat 2 March 1625-6, a month after his father's elevation
to an Earldom, to which Earldom 3 years later he sue. (14 March 1628-9). He
married 5 Nov. 1615, at Hadham Parva, Herts (m. London, he about 20, she
about 1 8) Mary first da. of Sir Arthur Capel, of Hadham, aft d - by Margaret dau.
of John Lord Grey. He died i April, 1638. Will pr. 1638.
His widow (who was bapt d - 20 March 1596 at Hadham Parva, m. 1 Thomas
Wancklen (son of a smith) and d. 2 June 1670, being buried in a garden privately,
but subsequently removed to Westbury, Wilts.
The next step was obviously to look up the Oxford scandal-
monger's account of the matter, and in his well-known Life
and Times (Oxford, 1872, vol. 2, p. 194) occurs the following
information :
1670 2 June the Countess of Marlborough, mother to the Earl that was
killed in the sea fight, 1666, died. Buried by her second husband (Thomas
Wanklyn, son of a smith) in her garden, between 2 boards under a turnip plot,
because Mr. Ash, who was to enter upon her joynter, should not know it. About
Michaelmas following she was taken up and buried by her husband at Westbury
in the plaine Wiltshire.
1 See Anthony A. Wood's life for an account of this marriage.
N
1 9 o THE ANCESTOR
Obviously money was at the bottom of this business, and
our old friend Antony might just as well have given us some
clue to the exact workings of the filthy lucre in this case. As
it is, two questions seem to arise. Firstly, was the cup, osten-
tatiously described as the joint gift of the husband and wife,
although the latter was dead and buried in the turnip patch
at the time, given to the church as a blind to make it supposed
that the lady was still alive ? or was it presented as a peniten-
tial offering after the deportation of the defunct lady's body
to consecrated ground ? The former supposition seems the
more probable, but it is a problem which will perhaps now
never be solved.
J. C. ROBINSON.
A COPY
OF AN ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT OF
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM
FORMERLY OF BOUGHTON MONCHENSEA
KNIGHT
Now in the Possession of his Descendant
SIR THOMAS RIDER, KNIGHT 1
/^lONSIDERINGE with my selfe, how much honor is
V^justly due to the memorye of my good father, and how
much profitt may arise from this fayre example of his life, I
have thought fitt to gather together such peeces thereof, as
were within myne owne knowledge, or delivered mee by cre-
dible reporte, that his posterity, knowinge somewhate of his
vertue and fortune, may peradventure make use of both, to
theire owne good.
SIR MARTIN BARNEHAM was the eldest sonne of FRANCIS
BARNHAM a good merchaunte and an alderman of London, whoe
was the eldest sonne of Steven Barnham, Esq., groome of the
Privie Chamber to Kinge Henry the Eighth, whose father and
grandfather, being men of fayre estates, were killed at Bos-
worth field on the side of Richard the Third, and theire es-
tates, or the greatest parte thereof, becominge a prey to the
contrary faction ;
STEVEN BARNHAM, my great grandfather, being left bare
of friends and fortune, was put into the tuition and education
of Battell Abbeye in Sussex, to which house his auncestors
had beene greate benefactors, and from thence p r ferred to
Cardinall Wolsey, and from him to Kinge Henry the Eighth,
whoe gave him fayre lands, and other gifts of good value ;
But his first wife (whoe was of the family of the Blowotts in
i Sir Thomas Rider of Boughton Monchelsea, knight, was Sheriff of Kent
in 1754. His father, Sir Barnham Rider, who died in 1728, was son and heir of
Philadelphia, the daughter and heir of the last of the Barnham baronets of
Boughton Monchelsea, a baronetcy created 15 August 1663.
191
192 THE ANCESTOR
Hamshire and mother to Francis, and Thomas, and one
daughter) being dead, his second wife, whome he maried in
his later age meerely for love (which humor had beene all his
life p r dominant in him), beinge without children, did so
governe him, and misgoverne his estate, as made him att his
death little more than even w* 1 the world, so that Francis,
his eldest sonne, had but a small portion from him where
withall to rayse a fortune, and Thomas, his brother, lesse
than hee. 1
OUR NAME as we have it by tradition, strengthened with
probable circumstances, and some good records (which, I have
heard some of my friends say they have scene) was first gen-
tilized, or at least advanced, by SIR WALTER BARN HAM, a Baron
of the Exchequer in the time of RICHARD the SECOND, and soe
continued in a flowrishinge estate (at a place called Barnham
in Suffolke not far from Thetford, where divers descents of
them lye now buried) till the time of Henry the Seventh, all
which I have received from my grandmother, father, and
uncles, whoe spake it with much confidence, as being delivered
to them, by theire freinds of the former age, and the truth of
it assured by divers records, however it is not that which I
will binde on as an infallible truth, because I my self have not
scene that which may soe absolutly assure it, and because I
for myne owne parte care not to fetch a pedegree farther
then from the certaine memory of a grandfather that was rich
1 The will of this Stephen Barnham hardly carries out his descendant's
description of him. He is there seen, not as an impoverished courtier, but as
a Hampshire yeoman and prosperous innkeeper. Describing himself as ' Stephen
Barnam of Southwyke, in the countie of Southampton, yeoman,' he gives his
wife Joan his dwelling house called the * Crowne,' with certain copyholds and 5/.
yearly for life. He gives her six kine and six hogs and two horses of the best,
six featherbeds with bedsteads and testers, the hangings of ' Winchester cham-
ber,' * the parlour ' and ' the best chamber,' one of his best goblets, the nut with
the cover of silver gilt and six silver spoons, six wine quart pots, six wine pints,
six' beer quarts and six beer pints ' with all other smale measirs pottes for wyne
and bere.' He gave his daughters Dorothy, Agnes and Elizabeth io/. each.
He gave to his bastard daughter Mary 13^. 6s. 8d., and to his bastard daughter
Dorothy iol., to be paid at their ages of discretion. He also names Maude, his
wife's cousin, Dorothy Cowper, and Annys Frybyn, Richard Bycklye, John
Hensly and Michael Clerk. He made Henry Byckly his overseer, and gave the
residue of his goods to his sons Francis and Thomas Barnam, his executors.
This will, dated 28 Oct. 1550, was proved 9 Jan. 155^ [P.C.C. I Bucke\ by the
executors. Sir Francis Barnham's caution in accepting the descent of his family
from the baron of the Exchequer was probably a reasonable one. [O.B.]
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 193
and honest, and a father that was vertuous and wise ; so then
to come neerer home, to indubitable truthes, FRANCIS BARN-
HAM, my grandfather, when hee grew towards man's age, his
fathers estate beinge then in some reasonable condicion, was by
him put into the course of the courte in the way of the green
cloath, but, findinge his fathers estate to runne apace to
ruine, and the houshold service to be a slow way of p r ferment,
within lesse than two yeeres hee declined that, and bound
himselfe apprentice to a good merchaunte in London, with
whome he served out his yeeres, and soe inabled him selfe, in
the understandinge of that profession ; as that afterwards,
he proved a very good manager for himselfe, and his name had
a very extraordinary reputation in those forraigne partes,
where he traded, as well as a greate and constante creditt at
home. Shortly after he was out of his apprentishippe he
married ALICE BRADBINGE,* a gentlewoman decended of
auncient and good family in Sussex, but aboute that time ex-
tinct in the heires males, and the estate in a maner wholy
spent, or transferred to daughters. My grandfather beinge
then maried, and possest of all that which hee was to have
from his father (who was dead not long before) found himselfe
with his owne estate, and his wife's smale pertion, scarce worth
i,ooo/, but yet goinge honestly, carefully, and cheerefully on
in his way, it pleased God so to blesse him, as that at the time
of his death, which was in the 1576 th year of our Lord and 6i st
of his age, he left behinde him lands to the valew then of i,ooo/
a yeare, and a greate personall estate, which yet by some ill
fortunes at sea, and bad debtors, was a good deale lessened
some yeares before his death : His eldest sonne, my father,
was borne in the year 1549, and till he was neere sixteene yeares
of age, was brought upp in severall schools in London, and I
have heard himself say, was divers times carried by his mother
(whoe even in those times of persecution was a constant pro-
fessor of the true religion) to that reverend man, and blessed
martyr, MR. BRADFORD, 3 when he lay in prison, from whome
he received many pious and profitable, instructions. From
London schooles he went to ALEAK HALL in Oxford, and spent
about three yeares there, under the tutorage of Mr. Aurthur
Atee ; one that was a wise man, as well as a good scholler,
under whose education, hee promted well in the studies of
1 More correctly Bradbridge.
John Bradford, prebendary of St. Paul's, burnt at Smithfield in 1555.
194 THE ANCESTOR
philosophic and humanitie, and would surely have become
a generall good scholler had he continued in that course ; but
his father, whoe in his whole life had the ill fortune not to
make a true judgment of the worth and vertue of that sonne,
beinge maynely carried, by the sway of his affection, to the
love and likinge of his second brother, tooke him from Oxford
at the time of his best advantage, and put him even almost
as a servaunt, to one Mr. Barker, a lawyer (an honest and
religious man, but of meane condition in himselfe, and little
reputation in his proffession), under him to learne the rudi-
ments of the lawe, and a lowely way of life, wherein my
grandfather (takinge as it seemeth a wronge levell of my
fathers spiritt) sought to humble him, and to checque those
risinge thoughts, which the condition of an elder brother (by
this tyme become heire to a reasonable good fortune) might
begett in him, and though in some natures this dejection way
might peradventure have produced some ill effects, yet in my
father, who was all humility and meecknesse, it brought foorth
nothinge but an obedient yeeldinge to his fathers will, and a
cheerefull applyinge himselfe to the directions and instruc-
tions of M r Barker, though he were neither kinde nor scarse
civill to him ; but my grandfather, soone fyndinge that his
sonne was soe farre from a stubborne opposinge of his will, as
that he submitted himselfe with all dutifullnesse even to this
meane course, gatheringe from this experiment a better
opinion of him, and beinge seconded in those thoughts by the
inclination of his wife (who was always to hir eldest sonne a
very lovinge and indulgent mother) after some fewe months
he took him out of this course and placed him in Graies Inne ;
where he continued about five yeeres, and gained in that time
soe much knowledge of the lawes of the lande as was afterwards
very usefull to him in the defence of his owne estate, and enabled
him to doe much good in his country by his advise and effec-
tuall endeavours of peace among his neighboures, in which he
labored constantly even to his dying day, and as I have heard
him say with soe good successe as that, in all his life time, he
never but once fayled to effect the peace he endevored to
make. At Graies Inne his conversation and familiarity was
with the men of best esteeme, with some of whome he then
made a friendshipp that continued duringe their lives, as with
old M r Honiwood, Sir Thomas Peyton, Sir Thomas Bodley,
S r Will m Wade, and such others, and with the first two his
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 195
freindshipp, beganne at Graies Inne, begat afterwards a neere
aliance ; havinge thus spent some yeeres in Graies Inne, when
he was aboute 25 yeeres old, his parents thought fitt to
seeke out a wife for him, and my grandfather havinge some
few yeeres before bought the two manners of Bilsington in Kent,
he was desirous to match him into that country where the
estate lay, which hee meant to assure him, and by the motion
of some friends, but principaly by my LORD WOOTONS meanes
(who had beene very familiar with my father at Oxford) there
was a treatie of manage sett one foote betwixt him and the
daughter of M r ROB T RUDSTON,* cousin germaine to my LORD
WOOTTON, which after some pawses, by reason of the parents
disagreeinge about portion, was in the end accomplished, to
the great joy of the younge couple, whoe had setled on each
other a very deere affection, and to the greate contentment
and comfort of theire parents, for though my grandfather
BARNHAM had with his daughter in law but a thousand markes
portion, yet her modest and vertuous education and the
aliance shee brought, gave him great satisfaction, and my
grandfather RUDSTON joyed so much in the hopefulnesse or
rather assured good proofe of his sonne in lawe, as that he
prefered him (as I have often heard them both say) before two
other husbands then offered his daughter, though both of
them were gentlemen of auntient descent in their country,
and of farre better estates then could be hoped for with my
father. In the year 1572, and the month of August, my
father was maried at Boughton Malherb, upon the desire and
at the charge of M r THOMAS WOOTTON, whoe was doubly my
mothers uncle, and alwaies most kinde and indulgent to hir,
and the mariage was sollemnized with the presence of allmost
all the f reinds and kindred on both sides, and S r John Wootton,
who was then a younge courtiour, brought a masque thither
of gentlemen of qualitie. Within foure dayes after his mari-
age, my father came to live with my grandfather RUDSTON,
and spent about foure yeares in his house, with greate con-
tentment to all, which could not have beene but that his
judgment and temper kept him from interfeeringe with the
passionatnesse of his father in lawe, whoe was a brave gentle-
1 Sir Martin Barnham married (i.) Ursula dau. of Robert Rudston of
Boughton Monchelsea, esquire, by whom he had two sons, and (ii.) Judith dau.
of Sir Martin Calthorpe of London, knight, by whom he had five sons and five
daughters. He died 12 Dec. 1610, aetat. 63. [M.I. at Hollingbourn.]
196 THE ANCESTOR
man, and of a very lovinge disposition, but so furiously chol-
lericke as required a greate deale of discretion to avoyd the
incounter of that humor. Hawing thus lived happily with
his father in lawe some foure yeares, Hollingboorne Parsonage
(which was then a lease of neere forty yeeres in beinge) was
offered him, which his frugality, during the time he lived
without charge in the house of his father in law, and some
little helps from his good mother, enabled him to buy at the
rate of 1,100, and there shortly after he settled himselfe, and
continued in it till his dyinge day, which was 34 yeares
after (without any intermission savinge some few months after
myne owne mothers death), keepinge all that time a bounti-
full, and in his latter yeeres a brave house full of his owne
children, most of whome were then growen to ripenesse of
age, and by his friends often visited, to whome he gave alwayes
a very harty and cheerfull welcome, with such entertainment
as though it were noble and plentifull, yet was it not streyned
to that height of excesse, or curiositie, which might make
them unwillinge to come often unto him. Soone after his
being setled at Hollingbourn, my grandfather BARNHAM died,
and left him no more estate but both the Bilsingtons, which
being then lett at low rates, and charged with 3OO/ S a yeere
to his mother, were for the present but of smale valew. That
which made my grandfather deale so hardley with him was
partly a partiall indulgence to his younger sonnes, to whome
he left great estates, and partly, a confidence that my father
would have no children, for at that time my mother had
neither child, nor great belly, to give any hope of hir fruit-
fullnesse ; but within a yeere after, notwithstandinge these
p r sures of his estate he went cheerfully on, and by his owne
judgment, and my mothers providence, did so well manage
that smale estate as made him able to buy some meadow pas-
ture and woodlands in Hollingbourne, which together with
the commodity of the parsonage made his dwellinge very
convenient. But whilst he was goinge on in this comfortable
course of life it pleased God to lay a very heavy affliction uppon
him by the death of my excellent mother, who died in the
yeere 1579 in childbed of a sonne, whoe lived but ten days
after hir, which, as it brake the comforte, so also the course of
his life ; for presently after hir death he gave up house, let out
the parsonage of Hollingbourne and his lands there and lived,
sometymes with his own mother, and sometymes with his
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 197
father in lawe ; but fyndinge this but an unsetled lyfe, and
beinge then but a younge man, and father but of one child
lyving, nature, reason, and the advise of his freindes, per-
swaded him to a second marriage which, some eight months
after my mothers death, he accomplished with the daughter
of ALDERMAN CALTHORP, afterward Lord Maior of London ;
whoe was a very loving good natured gentleman, and ex-
tracted of an auntient and noble family in Northfolke ; whose
wife was an Heath, great aunt to BOB T HEATH, now Attorney
Generall to his Majestic. With this second wife my father
had a present portion of 8oo/, assurance of 4oo/ more at his
fathers death, and good hopes of a greater fortune by the
advantage of his affection, which made him very indulgent
to hir, and by the condition of his sonnes in whome he was
eyther not happy, or not well satisfied. But yet those strong
motives of complyinge with his second mariage could not so
prevaile uppon my fathers goodnesse and justice, as that he
would setle any of the lands left him by his father uppon his
second issue, but resolvinge to leave them intire to his first
sonne, the hopes of his after children rested in the lease and
lands which he had in Hollingbourne, and in God his future
blessinge, which so multiplied uppon him, as that at his
death he left 5OO/ S a yeare of his owne purchase amonge his
younger sonnes, gave fayre portions to foure daughters, and
left me bysides both the Bilssingtons, a faire howse newly
built at Hollingbourne, and an hundred pounds a yeere lands
to it.
Not longe before his second mariage there hapned a
passage betweene his mother and him, worth the relatinge,
as beinge a lively picture of hir goodnesse to him, and his duti-
fullnesse to hir. The court-lodge of Bilsington was made in
joynture to my grandmother BARNHAM, and after my grand-
father's death leased by hir to my father, at the rent of 3OO/ S
a yeere for the terme of hir life, by which lease some smale
benefitt accrued to my father in p r sent, and after the expira-
tion of some old leases it was like to be of a better valew.
There was afterwards a treaty of mariage betweene my grand-
mother and SIR JOHN RAMSEY, a very rich alderman of Lon-
don, which treaty was almost concluded uppon such termes
as were very advantagious to my grandmother. But the old
knight, findinge in the pursute of this match that my grand-
mothers joynture was leased out to hir prejudice, insisted
198 THE ANCESTOR
manely uppon the callinge in of that lease, pretendinge
that he would make hir house at Bilsington habitable, live in
it most part of the sommers, and have hir children and his
friends with him. But the truth was that his ayme in getting
in of my fathers lease was only to improve my grandmothers
joynture to the full valew, though without that shee havinge,
besides hir 3OO/ a year, a very good personall estate. But he,
pressinge hard for the takinge in of hir lease, and there beinge
a full agreement in all other conditions, my grandmother
acquainted my father with SIR JOHN RAMSEYES desire and
made hir owne to him, that he would surrender his lease and
gave some reason to perswade him to it ; to which my father
made answere in such sort as might have beene full satisfac-
tion had not the importunity of a lovinge mother prevailed
against all the reason a dutifull sonne could urge ; so that the
conclusion was that my father promised hir, and appointed a
day to deliver in his lease, with which she acquainted Sir JOHN
RAMSEY, and desired him to be present when the lease was to
be surrendered to hir. My father kept his time, and the
covetous old knight fayled not, and asoone as he saw my
grandmother possest of the lease by my fathers deliveringe
thereof into hir hands, he told hir that now the mariage be-
tween them should with all speed be consumated, and named
a speedye day for it. Nay, sayeth my grandmother to him,
good Sir John be not soe hasty, except it be to appoint your
weddinge day with some other wife, for on mee I assure you
you must not reckon, for I shall never thinke my selfe happily
bestowed uppon a husband that setteth soe smale a valew on
mee, as you have done in making this little improvement of
my joynture (for that I knowe was indeede your ayme) a
necessary condition of your match with mee. But it hath
fallen out well to give me true satisfaction, the one of your
nature, which surely is set soe uppon covetousness, as would
have given me but smale comfort in you, the other of my
sonnes intire and good affection to me, which made him com-
ply with my desires, though to his owne prejudice, for which
I bless e him, and in retribution of my love doe here give him
backe his lease againe wishinge it were of much better valew
then it is, that so it might make a full expression of my love to
him, and my just acknowledgment of his lovinge and dutifull
carriage to me. And so S r John Ramsey and shee parted,
which true storie, though it relate principally to my grand-
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 199
mothers goodnesse, yet my father hath soe greate a share in
it, as maketh it I thinke not unfitt for this discourse.
Beinge thus settled in propertie and present possession for
matter of command of both the Bilsingtons, which beinge of
those manors that are called lordshipps of Rumney Marshe,
did thereby give my father a greate interest in the command of
that country, he applied himselfe with so much care and dili-
gence in that businesse, as that within few yeeres he became
as it were their oracle, so that the choise of officers, directing
of worke for their saftie against the sea, and whatsoever else
belonged to the government of that country rested prinsipally
in his hands, and was carried with soe much judgment and
integretie as even to this day, which is almost twentie yeeres
after his death, any opinion or rule that he gave in bussinesse
of the Mersh serveth full for a precedent in the like case. His
custome was to goe to the Priory of Bilsington almost every
Whitsuntide duringe the time that he was owner of those
landes and most tymes he called with him my mother in
lawe and some of his children, soe that havinge there a full
family of his owne, divers of his friends, the officers of the
Mersh, and his tenannts, cominge daily to him, his beinge
there was like a summers Christmas in regard of the fullnesse of
his company and greatnesse of his expence, which yett was noe
great charge to him, because his tenannts never fayled to pre-
sent him with such good materialls of housekeepinge as that
season of the yeere affoorded, which he requited with familiar
and kinde usage friendly discourse, and advising them aboute
theire owne particular afFayres, and above all with a gentle
hand in the lettinge of his lands, soe that I thinke never any
landlord had more power of free tenants then he had.
Shortley after his second mariage he was plunged into the
trouble and charge of a greate and dangerous sute, for the
Courtlodge of Bilsington, the best of his two manors there,
for this mannor beinge purchased by my grandfather of the
Lord Cheyney, whoe sold other lands to severall lords and
gentlemen of the valew of at least 2o,ooo/ s a yeere, soe greate
an estate hanging by the thread of one title gave an edge to all
such as could make the least colour of title to quarell that
estate ; theire least hope being to gett some good composition
for strengthening by their assurances the title of lands bought
(as was pretended) at unvalueable rates, and defective in
assurances. The first that apeared in this great sute was SIR
200 THE ANCESTOR
JOHN PERROT, then a Privie Counseller, and in greate favour
with QUEEN E ELIZABETH, whose eldest sonne, SIR THOMAS
PERROT, was borne of the sister, or aunt, to the Lord CHEYNEY/
and soe made title to that estate as heire generall ; which
clayme, though in itselfe it was very weak and unvalidious,
yet being countenanced by great persons animated by the hope
of havinge great shares either in the recovery of those lands or
the composition for them, it was followed with soe great vio-
lence, and seconded with soe greate power, as gave the pur-
chasers enough to doe to maynetayne a just, lawfull, and equit-
able title. Among them that stoode in the breach at this assault
my father was one of the most forward ; two third parts of
his estate restinge upon that title ; and havinge after some
little time given such prooff of his judgment and diligence, as
made almost all his fellow purchasers cast anchor in his faith-
fullnesse and abilitie he was reputed the great champion of the
side. S r John Perrot takinge notice thereof, thought it would
be a great advantage if he could worke my father off from the
assistance of the cause, towards the effectinge whereof he
thought a private discourse with him, fitted to the occasion,
would be most forcible, and thereupon sent to him in a civill
respective manner to intreate his coming to him ; my father
obeyed his desires by a speedy repayringe unto him ; when
he was come, after a very courteous salutation, and respectfull
usage, S r John began with him on this manner. M r BARN HAM,
I know well what right my sonne hath to the LORD CHEYNEYS
lands, and I know well how much your judgment and active-
nesse strengtheneth his adversaries side. I cannot thinke
that you are thus earnest against my sonne from any other
motive than the care of defendinge your owne estate which
(if you will) shall be fortified by the best assurance my sonnes
title canne give you, for which nothinge shall be required at
your hands but that you will become a looker on in this sute,
without contributing any help to either side ; and yf you
shall thinke this offer worth your imbracing, advise with your
Counsell, and your assurances shall be bettered by my sonne
1 Sir Henry Cheyne, knight, summoned in 1572 as Lord Cheyne of Todding-
ton, died s.p. in 1587, having wasted his estate. His three half-sisters, daughters
of the first marriage of his father, Sir Thomas Cheyne of Sheppey, K.G., were
his coheirs. Anne Cheyne, the third of these, was the first wife of Sir John
Perrot, the lord deputy of Ireland, and mother of Sir Thomas Perrot his heir.
Sir John Perrot, who was reckoned a bastard son of Henry VIII., died in 1592.
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 201
accordinge to the best of their directions. Although this un-
expected proposition were such a surprise to my father as
might well have distracted his thoughts soe farre as to have
kept him from a present answer to SIR JOHN PERROT, yet re-
collectinge himselfe, after a little pawse, he gave him this
answere. That he held himselfe much bound to his honor
for offeringe him that which he thought a favour, but for his
owne parte he could not acknowledge it soe, because he was
confident that the title he had to those lands which his father
had bought of the Lord Cheyney was as good as law and
equitie could make it, and should therefore be rather pre-
judiced then strenghtned by any adition of assurance, soe
that beinge thus fully satisfied in his owne title, and conse-
quently in that of all his fellow purchasers in pointe of their
legall and consionable right he could not with his judg-
ment make any use of his offered favour, nor with his reputa-
tion deserte a side that had trusted him soe much and did still
relye soe much on him. SIR JOHN PERROT beinge netled with
this answere sayde to him in an angry manner : well then,
seeinge you will not be an indifferent man betweene my selfe
and sonne and our adversaries, wee will both repute you as our
greatest enemy and expect our prosecution accordingly, and
so leavinge him suddenly without soe much as a civill farwell
theire partinge was as full of unkindnesse as theire first meet-
inge was of complement and fayre respect ; and suddenly
after, Sir John Perrot made good his word, for layinge aside
all the other purchasers, as if he made a peace, or at least a
truce with them, all the batteries were made against my father
alone, and soe continued, till SIR JOHN PERROT'S disgrace first,
and soone after his death (both which fell out within a short
time), gave him a little cessation from those troubles, but it
was not long before other men, farre greater and more power-
full than he, undertooke that suite against the whole body of
the purchasers, whoe still relyed uppon my father as their
cheife champion, and in conclusion though those troubles
lasted, duringe the tyme of my father's life and beyond it,
yett still the purchasers made good theire titles without any
the least appearance of danger, of all which violent and unjust
prosecutions, that had theire agitation in his life tyme, my
father made a true collection, by way of an historicall narration,
in which it appeared that scarce any one of those greate per-
sons, or other that had a hannd in that unjust vexation, scaped
202 THE ANCESTOR
the Divine punnisment, by some remarkeable misfortune for
soe unlawfull and dishonerable an atempt : and since my
fathers death I have made a true and just addition of some
great persons to that unfortunate list. But to returne to
other particulars of that part of my fathers life in which this
greate suite beganne, about that time he was made a Justice
of the Peace ; in which service, so necessary for the good and
saftie of the common wealth ! he was as active, as able, takinge
greate paynes therein even untill the day of his death, savinge
three smale tymes of intermission, wherein he was put out of
the comission ; twice by the unjust displeasure of greate lords,
whoe meant him a disgrace therein, and last of all by his owne
desire to free his life from the trouble of that service, but
after his two first puttings out of commission he was putt in
againe within a few months, not by his owne, or his freinds
suite, but by the meanes of those lords that putt him out ;
whoe groweing to beleive better of his merrit, and to be sen-
sible of the wronge they had done him, and in him that parte
of the county where he lived, retracted their error and made
themselves the meanes of his beinge putt agayne into comis-
sion, and when afterwards my father was putt out of the com-
ission of the peace at his owne suite, and yett kept in the
comission of the subsidie, my LORD CHANCELLER EGERTON
meetinge one day with my Lord of LEICH ESTER, whome
he knew to be my father's noble freind, told him that it was
not fitt that my father should exercise the power that the
comission of subsidie gave him, except he, that was every way
soe able for it, would take paines in the commission of the
peace ; which hee desired my Lord of Leichester to intimate
unto him, which my lord did accordingly, and seconded it so
stronglie with his owne reasons and perswasions, as made my
father willinge to reenter upon that service, in which from
that time he continued to his dyinge day ; and executed it all
his time with so much moderation and soe peacefull a spirrite,
as that I heard him say a little before his death, that of many
hundreds, whoe in that longe tyme of his service came to him
to require the peace or good behaviour of their neighbours, he
bound over but two only, his perswations of peace prevailing
with all the rest against the spirrit of contention which brought
them to him uppon that occasion. Neither was he in those
dayes lesse fortunate in his owne affayres, then he was to his
owne country and neighboures in his care of theire good ; for
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 203
as it pleased God to blesse him with many children, soe alsoe
with a dayly groweth of his reputation, and increase of his
estate to which hee made a good addition by divers smale
purchases.
In the yeere 1598 he was made high Sheriffe of Kent, and
was in the bill for it divers yeares before ; but as longe as the
suite against the purchasers of the Lord Cheyneys lands was
eagerly followed, those greate men that prosecuted that greate
suite kept him from beinge sheriff, as fearinge least the power
of that office might in his hands have been some disadvantage
to theire side. Those duties and directions which are re-
quired from an high sheriff, in the substantial! and sere-
monious parte of his office, were so well performed by him as
that they served for precedents to many of those that succeeded
him ; soe that the under sheriffe he made choyse of (whoe
was one that before that time had not executed that office),
by the reputation of his choyse, was made under sheriff by
7 or 8 of the next high sheriffs, and the security which
my father required from him was conceived to be taken with
so much judgment, and fitt caution, as that the high sheriffes
of some other countryes (as well as those of his owne) sent
some yeares after to my father for his directions on that be-
halfe, and made them the precedents by which they secured
themselves against the greate danger which did commonly
attend the high sheriffs by the negligent ignorance or fals-
ness of their under sheriffs if it were not prevented by a truly
wisdome. As for the formall and shewinge part of his office,
he carried it in a high line of fitnesse and decency, without
any touch of lownesse or vanity ; his entertainement at the
Assizes, his number of servants, and his gifts to the judges,
being all of them fitly proportioned. That yeare of his
shrivalty was acompanied with many good fortunes con-
siderable in his life, for hee then maried his eldest daughter to
the eldest sonne of his auntiente and worthey freind, M r
ROBERT HONYWOOD, which match in regard of the quality of
his sonne in lawe, and his fayre hopes of very good estate,
was full of comforte and reputation, and shortly after he
maried me to the daughter of M r SAMSON LENNARD * and the
LADY DACRE, in which match, his goodnesse to me wards,
sought rather to give me a wife that might bringe mee a noble
1 There is a picture of this Samson Lennard in the Ancestor, vol. 5.
204 TH E ANCESTOR
alliance, and promise the happinesse of a good wife (as beinge
borne of a mother that abounded as much in worth and vertue
as in honor) then to enriche himselfe, or his other children by
so greate a portion as it is probable he might have had in
divers places, if that had beene his cheifest ayme in my mari-
age. About that time alsoe he bought a purchase of good
valew, though his mother whoe kept a good parte of his estate
from him was then alive, soe that one yeare gave him the
reputation of beinge high sheriffe (which in those dayes sunke
not so lowe as since it hath done), of marrying his two eldest
children to much comfort and happinesse, and of givinge a
good adition to his estate by a great purchase. In those pro-
gresses of good fortune his life went hapily on, his estate and
reputation groweinge with his age, which may justly be
recconed amongst his greatest temporall blessinges, because
it brought v? 01 it cheerefullnesse and comfort to the latter
parte of his lyfe ; which to most men is but a malancholly
disconted beinge, either through waywordnesse of age, infir-
mity of body, or deficiency of fortune. Within lesse than
two yeares after my marriage I came to live in my fathers
house, though I had then by covenant one yeeres beinge more
with my father in lawe, whoe though he kept a very honorable
house, and lived in all respects in soe brave a fassion as
might make the beinge there very delightfull, especially to
me, whoe had always from all hands a very lovinge and noble
treatment, yett the happinesse I promised myselfe in the daily
comfort of my fathers kinde and familiar usage, and in his
advise and instructions (which were always given me in a most
indulgent manner) made me hasten my cominge to live with
him a yeare before my time. My brother and sister Hony-
wood then lived in the howse and spent some yeares there
with all possible comfort to all parties, soe that livinge in a
full and well agreeinge family, I can reckon noe parte of my
life, spent with more contentment then it was, which must be
chiefly ascribed to that goodnesse and sweetnesse of my
fathers disposition and fashion which, like the operations of
fayre and cleere weather, made all that lived with him lively
and cherefull.
1603. Aboute this tyme KINGE JAMES came to this crowne,
to whom QUEENE ELIZABETH, by hir constantly sparinge hand
of all sorts of honor, left greate power of satisfaction and re-
wards in that kind, of which among others KNIGHTHOOD was
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 205
most pursued as beinge that of which soe many men, were then
fitly capable. The kinge havinge beene very bountifull of
that honor in his journey from SCOTLAND to LONDON, moste
parte of the gentlemen of the other parts of England were
desirous to dresse themselves in that generall fashion ; and
though on some particuler men by the king's favour, or the
mediation of some greate men, that honor was freely bestowed,
yett generally it was purchased att greate rates, as at three, four,
and five hundred pounds, accordinge to the circomstances of
precedencye, or grace, with which it was accompanied. SIR
JOHN GRAY, my noble freind and neere allye, findinge the way
of knightinge by favour somewhat slacke, and not alwaies cer-
taine, out of his affection to mee, at the kings first cominge
to LONDON, treated with a Scotchman, an acquaintance of
his, and drove a bargaine that for 8o/ and some courtesyes
which he should doe him, my father and my selfe should be
knighted, and gave me present knowledg thereof that it
might speedily be effected, with which I made my father in-
stantly acquainted, and told him that though I doubted not
but to procure both our knighthoods without money by the
power of some greater freinds I had in court, yet consideringe
the obligation to them and the tyme that would be lost before
it could be certainly effected, I thought it would be a better
way to make a speedy end of it at so smale a charge rather then
to linger it out at uncertainetyes at such a time as every man
made haste to crowd at the new play of knighting heere. My
father made this answere, that havinge by God's blessinge an
estate fitt enough for knighthood, and havinge managed
those offices of credite which a country gentleman was capable
of, he should not be unwillinge to take that honor upon him,
if he might have it in such a fashion as that himselfe might
hold it an honor, but said he yf I pay for my knighthood I
shall never be called SIR MARTIN but that I shall blush for
shame to thinke how I came by it ; yf therefore it canot be
had freely I am resolved to content myselfe with my present
condition, and for my wife (saied he merrily) I will buy her a
new gowne instead of a ladyshipp, this is my resolution for
myselfe, and that which I thinke fittest for you. Findinge
him thus resolved, I gave over that way, and made meanes to
my noble freind, my LORD of PEMBROOKE, to procure my father
a free knighthoode, which hee redilie undertooke, and
apointed him a day to attend for it at GREENWICH, but that
o
206 THE ANCESTOR
morninge there came some newes out of Scotland that put the
Kinge soe out of humor as made that time unfitt for it, and
instantly after it was published that the kinge would make noe
more knights till the time of his Crownation as resolvinge to
honor that day with a greate proportion of that honor, on
which day my father, by the favour of my LORD PEMBROOCKE
(sic), had the honor of knighthoode freely bestowed uppon
him, and was ranked before three-fourth parts of that days
numerous knightinge. Shortly after this my father married his
second daughter to M r AUGUSTAINE STEEUARD, a gentleman
of a fayre descent and good estate, to whome he gave a good
portion, and two yeeres diet by way of contract, and some
yeeres more out of his bounty and kindnesse, which allwaies
exprest itselfe in a most cheerfull wellcome to his children and
grandchildren, as beinge that which was beneficiall to them,
and comfortable to himselfe, who beinge now freed from the
trouble and charge of suits, and his estate greatly increased by
the death of his mother, who died in the yeere 1604, enjoyed
the quiete of his own howse, the comfort of his children, and
the plentifullnesse of his estate with all possible happiness.
And here it shall not be amisse to recite one perticuler
that hath relation to that greate and longe continued cause,
uppon the purchasers of the LORD CHEYNEYES lands, because
it meeteth with this time and conduceth much to my father's
publicke reputation and honor. In the yeere 1608, the Par-
liment then sittinge, there was a bill brought into the Howse
of Commons intituled, an Act for the securing of the Lands
bought of the late LORD CHEYNEY to the severall purchasers
thereof, the purporte of this Acte was to give a finall securitie
by Acte of Parliment to such of the purchasers as would buy
there peace by compoundinge with some that pretended to a
title to those lands (whoe were named in the Bill), at the rate
(as I remember) of halfe a yeeres valew of their estates. This
bill was brought in to the howse of Commons by the direc-
tions of the LORD ARUNDELL of Ward[our], in favour of a
kinseman of his that pretended a title to those lands, and by
his meanes was well befreinded in the Howse, and some of the
purchasers, eyther out of want of judgment or weaknesse of
feare, or base playinge booty on that side, complied with it,
soe that it passed readily to a comittee, which accordinge to
the manner of those private bills was chosen of men for
the most parte very favourably affected to it. In the
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 207
meane tyme some other of the purchasers that stoode upright
in the cause gave my father notice of those proceedings and
desired him with all earnestnesse to take that busines fully
& wholy into his owne hands, uppon whose care and judg-
ment they would confidently relye ; wherein they proceeded
with my father, as the state of ROME was wont to doe when
in tyme of greate danger, they made a Dictator to whome
alone they gave an absolute power to doe what hee thought
best, with these woords in his co mission provided, ne quid
detrimenti respublica capiat, my father willingly obeyed theire
desire by taking that business into his serious consideration
but beinge by some important business inforced to be in the
country at the time appointed for the sittinge of that com-
ittie, he wrote a letter and directed it to his good freind SIR
RICHARD SMIGHT (who was then a Parliament man), which
letter made a large expression of his opinion against the offered
Acte of Parliament, and of the reasons that did leade him to
that opinion. The committee beinge sett and the busines
beganne, many speeches were made in favour of the Bill, and
many reasons inforced, and this cheefly That it was that
which moste of the purchasers desired, which some of them
were present confirmed by theire owne avowed consent, and
others that were absent were named as willinge consentors to
the bill, and amonge them my father for one, yea marry said
SIR FRANCIS BACON (whoe was made for the Bill) his consent
will be a greate authority amongst us, beinge a gentleman of
soe great wisdome and reputation, &c., and therefore let us
be assured that it hath his approbation and noe one thinge
will more availe it : which he spake to prepare a reverent
opinion of my fathers consent which he did indeed beleeve
had beene gotten. Upon this SIR DUDLEY DIGGES, whoe had
the letter in his hands, and was desired to produce it when he
see his time, stoode upp, and bestowinge many woords of
honor uppon my father, concluded with SIR FRANCIS BACON
that his opinion might uppon good reason bee of greate es-
teeme amongst them because he was well knowen to be a wise
and a good man, and to understand more of the business of
that greate suite for CHENEY'S lands then any man else did.
The generall expectation beinge thus raysed my fathers letter
was read, which makinge a summary relation of the goodnesse
of theire title, and the violence and injustnesse of theire many
vexations, which yett had brought noe manner of danger to
208 THE ANCESTOR
the purchasers ; delivered in the conclusion his opinion abso-
lutely against any adition of strength to a title (though it
were by Act of Parliament) which had already the best asur-
ance that law and equitie could give it, and gave some reasons
to strengthen that opinion ; which reasons beinge argued at
the comittee and found very weightie, the bill beinge put to
the question was clerely cast, and soe reported to the Howse,
where it ranne the same fortune ; which is a remarkable con-
sideration, that the power of those reasons which his letter
conteyned, cominge from soe good an authority, was able to
overthrow a business soe well laid, soe farre advanced and
strenghtened with soe great freinds, and as thinges sorted to
his reputation, soe was his life made happy in other comforts,
especially in that of constant health ; not interrupted with
any, so much as ordinnari sallies of sicknesse ; for from his
age of 14 till hee was above 60 he never had but one sick-
nesse, and that neither longe nor extreame. But aboute one
yeare and halfe before his death, which happened in the 63 rd
yeare of his age, he beganne to feele some declination of his
former health, which continued till the time of his death,
with some little weakness and distempers which by often
appearinge and attacking him in such manner only as might
well be reckoned amongst the blessings of his life ; for it gave
him almost a certaine foreknowledg and fayer warning of his
death, without any such torment of sicknesse as myght make
his life grevious unto him, of which he made a right and true
christaine use, by preparinge himselfe for the life to come,
to w** he was summoned aboute the beginninge of December
1610 by a sicknesse somewhat sharpe at the first, but groweinge
every day more violent till the day of his death, which was on
the loth of that month, which sicknesse he bare with a manly
courage and christaine patience, and that time which he could
make use of by any relaxation of his extreamity he spent in
prayers, and in grave fatherly and wise admonitions and per-
swasions of love and peace to his wife and children ; havinge
his memory and speech perfect till very few houres before his
death, and soe the happinesse that accompanied his life was
crowned with the perfection of all happinesse, in the blessed-
nesse of his death. Presently after his death his will and
other disposalls of his estate beinge looked into, there ap-
peared some rocks of danger, like enough to have wreacked the
peace of his family, but it pleased God that his effectuall
SIR FRANCIS BARNHAM 209
perswasions of peace and unity to his wife and children pre-
vayled soe with them against all reasons of theire perticuler
benefitt or advantage, as that, within a short time such a
peace was settled amongst all, as hath continued inviolate
unto this day. His funerall were performed (accordinge to
his owne directions) without any serimonous pompe but with
soe greate a confluence of gentlemen of the best and second
qualitie, and of all other sorts of people that dwelt neere him,
as gave a full expression of the generall respect and love that
was borne him ; for a more particular testimony whereof his
body was carried to the church by six knights and gentlemen
of prime quality, who gladly offered themselves to doe that
honour to his ashes, and against the day of his buriall his
tenannts sent in above 700 fowlles of all sorts as theire last
tribute of love and thankfullnesse to his memory and meritt ;
and of that parte of his funerall sermon made by DOCTOR
BOYSE which represented his worth and vetrue even in a very
transcendinge degree, it was yett sayed by some that knewe
and could judge him well, that those prayses might fittley
be compared to a picture that was like, but not so well as the
life, to which censure this weake expression and imperfect
collection of myne may justly be more liable.
[While going through and sorting a very considerable number of old deeds,
letters and other documents, I came across the above biography written in a
neat clerk's hand in a sort of copy book. Among the above mentioned letters are
two dated in 1760 from Sir Thomas Rider to Thomas Barrett Lennard, Lord
Dacre. In one of these he mentions that he is giving to the latter a picture
of Margaret Fynes, Lady Dacre, who married in the sixteenth century Samson
Lennard, one of Lord Dacre's ancestor's, and this letter contains an extract
from the above life of Sir Francis Barnham.
There is no doubt that he subsequently had the whole of this biography
copied for Lord Dacre.]
T. BARRETT LENNARD.
210 THE ANCESTOR
NOTES FROM THE NETHERLANDS
I. THE NOBILITY OF THE NETHERLANDS
BEFORE entering upon the subject of the nobility of the
Netherlands let us be assured of our terminology.
Confusion begins at home as well as abroad when we would
speak of our country. ' The Netherlands ' we say in our
common speech, or it may be ' Holland,' and either phrase
will go well enough in these days in which the art of conver-
sation is as little in esteem and as rarely practised as alchemy
or the swaddling of mummies.
Yet let it be understood that * Holland ' in the mouth of
the historian should signify nothing more than the province
of that name, and not the whole land, 1 a distinction which
should always be kept when one would speak of the period
before the setting up of the present monarchy, and still more
when one is dealing with those middle age's when the pro-
vinces differed one from another in government and in race.
When in these notes I shall have occasion to speak of the
Netherlands (de Nederlanden) it will be seen that I keep that
word for our northern kingdom, giving the kingdom of Bel-
gium its own name. After this piece of needful pedantry, I
will approach the subject of the first of my notes, which shall
treat of the nobility of the Netherlands.
All noblesse having been abolished by the revolution of
1795, which made an end of the old regime and of the govern-
ment of the * stadhouders,' King William I. revived it after
the reassertion of the liberty of the Netherlands and the insti-
tution of constitutional monarchy.
One of the articles of the constitution of the kingdom
recites that the king gives litres de noblesse. These are in
practice given by the king, either of his own motion, 2 which
now rarely happens, 3 or upon the petition of the person
desirous of being received into the nobility.
1 Napoleon gave his sanction to the popular and inaccurate usage when,
under the French dominion, a * kingdom of Holland ' was created.
2 As when the sovereign gives a decoration motu proprio.
3 A few personal titles of which we shall speak later should go into this cate-
gory.
THE NETHERLANDS 211
These petitions are examined by a council called the Hooge
Raad van Adel^ which issues favourable or unfavourable reports
thereon and submits the nominations to the king.
There are many grounds upon which the postulant may-
rest his claim to being received as a noble. He may be (i.)
brought up in the noblesse, in which case he must prove that
he comes of a family which has held for many generations a
position in the magistrature of a town. He may prove (ii.)
that his family belonged to the recognized nobility of the
Netherlands in an earlier period. He may ask for incorpor-
ation (iii.) when his family is of a foreign and noble stock.
There are other pleas, but the three aforenamed are the most
frequent. Titles may be personal or hereditary. Personal
titles are very rare, an example being found in the Queen's
consort, who on his marriage with the Queen was made
Prince of the Netherlands.
Hereditary titles in their order are prince, count, baron,
knight (ridder) and jonkheer.
Princely titles are few. The Duke of Wellington was
made Prince of Waterloo by King William I. after his victory,
but since the separation of the Netherlands and Belgium, the
north has left this title and the payment of any accruing
emoluments to the care of the southern kingdom. The
princes of the blood, did any such exist, would bear the title
of Princes of the Netherlands, and the Prince Consort is now
the sole possessor of this rank.
The title of ridder is enjoyed by few, and there are few
families bearing that of count the barons and jonkheeren
make the bulk of our titled classes. With this short sketch of
the position of our nobility I will direct the reader to a little
book of the first value to the student of such matters. 1
At the beginning of 1903 a few genealogists 8 put forward
the Nederlands* Adelsboek? This little book follows the
model of the Gotha and the English peerages. The noble
families are given in alphabetical order. A notice of their
origin and earlier ancestors is followed by an account of all
living members of the family. The edition of 1903 includes
1 In a later article I shall speak of the different works existing upon the
nobility of the Netherlands.
a MM. Bijleveld, Baron Creutz, Jhr. Wittert van Hoogland, Bloys van
Treslong Prins, Jhr. de Savornin Lohman, Jhr. Hora Siccama.
Published by Stockum, at the Hague.
212 THE ANCESTOR
about half of our noble houses, and the volume of 1904 will deal
with the other half. A new edition will follow every year.
The book is prettily produced and has a portrait of the pre-
sident of the supreme council of the nobility, Baron Schim-
melpenninck van der Oye.
In the volume for 1903 I find these following families of
English and Scottish origin, with the notices of their origin,
which having been carefully compiled deserve the attention
and the corrections, if need be, of genealogists.
CLIFFORD
From Normandy. This family is said to begin with
Puntius Clifford, who went with William the Conqueror to
England. The Netherlands branch descends from George
Clifford, who came to Amsterdam between 1634 anc ^
LOUDON
From Scotland. The lineage begins with Alexander
Loudon, who came to the island of Java in iSn^with the
English fleet.
MAC KAY
From Scotland. Begins with Odo Mackay, who had wide
lands in Caithness and Sutherland in 1499. Donald Mackay
was created Lord Reay by King James I. in 1628, which title
still belongs to the head of the house.
MELORT
From England. Only the lineage in the Netherlands is
given, beginning with Andreas Melort, who died in 1757.
MELVILL VAN CARNBEE
From Scotland. The family begins with Richard de
Melvill, named in 1296. His son Robert acquired the barony
of Carnbee in Fife. Sir Andrew Melvill of Carnbee was
knighted by Charles II.
VAN PESTEL
From England. The family begins with Thomas Pestel,
* pasteur de la cour de Henri VIII.'
THE NETHERLANDS 213
QUARLES
From Scotland. Begins with William Quarles, lord of
the barony of Quarles, who came in 1420 from Scotland to
Northamptonshire, and afterwards married Catharine Ufford,
of the family of the Earls of Suffolk. One branch bears the
name of Quarles van Ufford and the other of Quarles de
Quarles. These last should have adopted the name after the
extinction of the Quarles family, barons of Quarles in Eng-
land. [Sic. ED.]
On the appearance of the second volume I shall extract
for the readers of the Ancestor the families there to be found
of English origin. I purpose moreover to deal with certain
English families dwelling in the Netherlands, who are not
amongst the nobles, and with the families from the Nether-
lands now established in England, such as the Bentincks and
the Keppels.
May I say that I shall willingly receive questions from the
readers of the Ancestor upon subjects of genealogical interest
concerning the Netherlands. Where I can aid them myself
I will do so, and in any case I shall endeavour to direct them
to persons who can help them in their inquiries and researches.
For myself I shall reserve the right to put questions in my
turn. Let me give a hostage for my good intentions by asking
the first question. In the Ancestor (vii. 252) I find mention
of Thomas de Furnival, lord of Sheffield, at the end of the
thirteenth century.
\.. In a charter of 18 January 1225, now amongst the royal
archives at the Hague, the lord Theodoricus of Wassenare * is
granted in fee by the Count of Holland the land * quam
acquisivi a filio magistri Rogeri de Fornival.'
Has this Master Roger de Fornival any kinship with the
house of the Furnivals of Sheffield ? As his name indicates,
this Fornival who owned lands in Holland was a stranger to
the country.
H. G. A. OBREEN.
GAND, BELGIQUE.
1 I have published in 1902 a volume upon the family of Wassenaer, one of
the oldest in Holland.
2i 4 THE ANCESTOR
HERALDS' COLLEGE AND PRESCRIPTION
IV
HAVING now considered the views of some of the earlier
Heralds, let us see what one of the earliest text-books
has to say. The Book of St. Albans * contains much curious
information on our subject.
Merke ye wele theys questionys here now folowyng :
Bot now to a question I will precede, and that is thys : Whethyr th'armys
of the grauntyng of a prynce or of other lordys ar better or of sych dignyte as
armys of a manis [man's] proper auctorite take, when that it is leefull [lawful] to
everi nobullman to take to hym armys at his plesure. For the wich question
it is to be knaw that iiij maner of wyse [ways] we have armys.
The first maner of wyse, we have owre awne armis, the wiche we beer of owre
fadyr or of owre modyr or of owre predycessoris, the wych maner of beryng is
comune and famus [i.e. well known], in the wych I will not stonde long, for the
maner is best provyt.
The secunde maner, we have armys by owre merittys, as verey playnly it
apperith by the addicion of th'armys of Fraunce to th'armys of Englonde, getyn
by that moost nobull man prynce Edwarde, the firste getyn sone of kyng Edwarde
the thride, that tyme kyng of Englond, after the takyng of kyng John of Fraunce
in the batell of Peyters. The wich certan addicion was leful and rightwysli
doon ; and on the saame maner of whyse myght a poore archer have take a
prynce, or sum nobull lorde, and so th'armys of that prysoner, by hym so take,
rightwisly he may put to hym and to his hayris.
On the thride maner of whise, whe have armys the wich we beere by the
grauntyng of a prynce or of sum other lordys.
And ye most knaw that thoos armys the wych we have of the grawntyng of a
prynce or of a lorde resayve no question why that he berith thoos same ; for whi,
the prynce wyll not [suffer] that sich a question be askyt, whi he gave to any
man sych an armys, as it is playn in the lawe of nature and civyll. For that same
that pleses ther prynce has the strength of law, bot if [i.e. unless] any man bare
thoos armys afore ; for that thyng the wich is myne, with a rightwys tityll,
withowte deservyng may not be take fro me, ner the prynce may not do hit
rightwysly.
The faurith [fourth] maner of whise, we may have thoos armys the wich we
take on owre awne propur aucthorite, as in theys days opynly we se how many
poore men, by thyr grace, favoure, laboure or deservyng, ar made nobuls. . \.
And of theys men, mony by theyr awne autorite have take armys, to be borne
to theym and to ther hayris, of whoom it nedys not here to reherse the namys.
Neverthelees, armys that be so takyn they may lefully [lawfully] and freely beer ;
1 It is now generally admitted that the Heraldic part of the Book of St. Albans
is translated from Nicholas Upton.
214
HERALDS' COLLEGE 215
hot yit they be not of so grete dignyte and autorite as thoos armys the wich ar
grauntyt day by day by the autorite of a prince or of a lorde. Yet armys bi a
mannys propur auctirote taken, if an other man have not borne theym afore, be
of strength enogh.
And it is the opynyon of moni men that an herrod [herald] of armis may
gyve arrays. Bot I say, if any sych armys be borne, by any herrod gyvyn, that
thoos armys be of no more auctorite then thoos armys the which be take by a
mannys awne auctorite. 1
It will be seen that the author divides arms into four
classes, in a descending scale of * dignyte and autorite.'
1. Arms borne by descent.
2. Arms borne by conquest.
3. Arms granted by a prince or lord.
4. Arms assumed by the bearer.
The writer is doubtful as to the power of a herald to grant
arms, but on the whole seems to think that it can be done.
The passage, it must be remembered, was written when
heraldry was still a living thing, before the foundation of the
college, and probably before the appointment of the first
Garter. 3
Not only did men assume arms of their own * propur
auctorite,' but having got them, they looked upon them as
* estates of inheritance ' (as Mr. Phillimore and * X ' would
put it) with consequential rights of assignment or conveyance
by deed or will. It is not to be expected that many of these
documents should be preserved, being private and unregistered
muniments. There are however a few originals known, and
copies of a considerable number, mostly made by heralds. I
have not noticed in any of these cases that the herald made
any protest against this assertion of right.
I propose to deal with these private assignments and with
the private grants by * prynces or sum other lordys ' together,
and as before in chronological order. Most of them are well
known, and several of them have been printed, but it will be
useful to collect them here, and will save the trouble of refer-
ence to other books.
The earliest in point of date is recorded in the Scrope and
Grosvenor controversy.
1 The Third Part of the Boke of St. Albans, printed from the original edition
in 1486 ; London, T. Cadell ; no date.
2 See Ancestor, i. 87. Upton's treatise is supposed to have been written in
1421 or 1422 ; the Book was published in 1486 ; the first Garter was appointed
in 1446.
2i 6 THE ANCESTOR
The prior of Gisburgh deposed that in his church might
be found the arms of Scrope in a glass window, azure,
with a bend gold with a small lioncel purpure at the
top of the bend, which lioncel was granted to one of the
Scropes by the Earl of Lincoln, for term of the life of the said
Scrope. 1
Henry de Lacy, the last Earl of Lincoln of that family,
died in 1311, and his grant must therefore have been very early
in the fourteenth century, if indeed not late thirteenth cen-
tury. His arms were gold with a purple lion ; they were
adopted as part of the arms of Lincoln's Inn, where they appear
in a canton.
1364. A tons yceaux qe cestes lettres verrunt ou orront, Thomas le fitz
Mounsieur Johan de Heronyll, chivaler, Salutz en Dieux. Sachiez moy avoir
don et graunte a Roger de Wyrley un esquechoun d'armes queill j'avoy par
descent apres la morte Johan moun frere ; c'este a savoir, 1'esquchon de sable ou
deux leouns passaunz de argent, coronez et unglez de or, ou un floure deliz de
azure denz le piez : Avoir et tenier a dit Roger et sez heirs a touz jours. Et
nous et nous \sic\ heirs 1'avandit esquechon a dit Roger et sez heirs en centre
totes gentz garraunt. En tesmoignaunce des q' choses, a cestes escriptes ay meys
moun seal, par yceaux tesmoignes . . . Escriptes a Westbromwyche, le Mardy
prochain avant la Chandelure, Pan de Reigne le Roy Edward tierce puys Con-
queste trent utisme. 2
f J Here we see that Sir John de Heronyll grants a coat which
descended to him from his brother, using the proper convey-
ancing terms, * give and grant,' and also the common form of
general warranty against all men.
1375, April 5. Sir William de Aton pere, in the presence
of the Sire de Percy, challenged Sir Robert de Bointon for
these arms : Gold with a cross of sable and five bulls' heads
\testes de boef] of silver on the cross. The matter was referred
to the judgment of Lord Percy, who awarded the arms to Sir
William de Aton, come chief des armes entiers et droit heriter
dicelles. Sir William thereupon granted to Sir Robert and
his heirs for ever the right to use the challenged arms without
impeachment by Sir William or his heirs. The parties ex-
changed indentures to this effect. 3
The interesting point here is that Aton, having obtained
a judgment or declaration of his rights from a private arbitrator,
1 Scrope and Grosvenor Roll, ii. 278.
2 Harl. MSS. 1116, fo. 2 ; 4630, fo. 17.
3 Ibid. 1178, fo. 44 ; Yorkshire Arch. Journal, xii. 263.
HERALDS' COLLEGE 217
grants a licence to Bointon and his heirs to use the challenged
arms.
1378. A tous ceulx que cestes lettres veront et orront, nous, Hughe de
Calveleghe, chivaler, John de Burley, chivaler, John Devereux, chivaler, Urian
de Stapelton, chivaler, et Rauffe de Statum, esq., Salus en Dieu. Com il y a en
certaine place devant les Conestable et Marshall, parentre Mons r John de
Massy de Tatton, poursuyvant [plaintiff], et Mons r John de Massy de Potington,
defendant, pour les armes Quaterles d'or et de gueles a un lion passant argent
en le premir quater de gueles ; et le diet plee soit continue tant que les ditz
parties avoient plede, juspres a jour paremptorie de porter les evidences de 1'un
parte et 1'autre, a prover leur entent, selon ceo que a chascun part apartient
le quel dcs ditz averoit melljour droit aux ditz armes. Surquy nous, pour
bonnes consideracions, et aussi pour eschuer les grandes damages que porroit
advenir a cause du dite pie, et debat que porroit surdre si remedie ne fuit mis par
mediators entre les ditz parties, avons trete entre eulx, tant que les ditz parties
sont consentes par leur fathes [? faites] d'estre a nostre regard ; Sur quoy pour
bon deliberacion et advis des nobles et sages chivalers du reaulme, avons agarde
a Mons r John de Massye de Potington, defendant, de porter les armes que
Tho. Massy son aieul jadis porta, c'estassavoir, d'or et de gules quaterles, a
trois fleurs-de-lys d'argent en les quaters de gueles ; et Mons r . John Massy de
Tatton, pursuyvant, les armes quaterles, a trois scalops d'argent en les quartiers
de gueles. Et aultre ceo, [nous] avons agarde que nulle de les ditz parties por-
teront les armes que fuerunt en debate, en nulle aultre maniere forsque en ceste
manier come nous avons ordeigne entre cube. En testmoignance du quel chose,
nous avons mis nous seaux. Donne a Glouster, le 14 jour de Novembre, 1'an
du Reygne nostre S r le Roy Richard 2d. puis le Conqueste, 2 me. 1
Here we have a very full account of a dispute between two
members of the ancient Cheshire family of Massey. John of
Tatton had complained to the constable and marshal that
John of Potington was using his arms. The parties had
pleaded, and a day was fixed for taking evidence. Thereupon,
to avoid expense and further dispute, the two Masseys sub-
mitted to the arbitration of four knights and one esquire, and
bound themselves by deed to observe the award. The arbi-
trators consulted certain noble and wise knights of the realm,
and decided that neither of the claimants should bear the
challenged arms ; to John of Potington they awarded the
arms borne by his grandfather, while for John of Tatton they
appear to have devised an entirely new difference.
1391. A tous ceux que ceste presente lettre verront ou orront, Thomas
Grendale de Fenton, cousin et heir a John Beaumeys, jadis de Sautre, Salutz in
Dieu. Come les armes d'auncestrie du dit Johane apres le jour de son moriant
soient par loy et droit d'heritage a moy eschaietz, come a son prochein heir de
sonjynage, Sachetz moy 1'avant dit Thomas avoir donnee et grauntee par icestes les
1 Harl. MSS. 1178, fo. 44b ; 1424, fo. 98 ; 1507, fo. 201.
2i8 THE ANCESTOR
entiers avantdites armes ou leur appertenauntz a Will Moigne, chivaler ; queles
armes cestascavoir sont d'argent oue une crois d'asure ou cinque garbes d'or en
le crois ; a avoir et tenir touz lez avantdites armes oue leur appertenantz au dit
Mons r Will et a ces heirs et assignes a tous jours. En tesmoignance de quele
chose a cestez presentes lettres jay mys mon sael. Donne a Sautre, le vint-
seconde jour de November, Pan du regne le Roy Richard seconde quinzisme. 1
In this case we again have a conveyance, pure and simple.
Thomas Grendale has inherited certain arms from John Beau-
meys, which he gives and grants to Sir William Moigne, his
heirs and assigns. The use of the word assigns should be
specially noted ; it seems to imply that Moigne may in turn
convey the arms to whom he pleases without any interference
by Grendale.
1397. A toutz ceux ycestes lettres verront ou orront, Johan de Whelles-
brough, salutz en Dieu. Sachetz comme Thomas Purefey eit la reversion de
manners de Fenney Drayton et Whellesbrough en la Counte de Leicestre oue les
apurtenances, moi, le dit Johan aver done et graunte par icest au dit Thomas
Purefey et ses heyres et en mesme le manere, mes arms oue les appurtenances
ey entierment come moy ou mes ancesters avoions u ; a aver et tener les
armes oue les appurtenances subdit a dit Thomas, ces heires et ces assignes, come
desuis est dit, a touts jours, sans impeachment de mes heires . . . Et jeo oblige
moi et mes heires a garanter lez ditz arms oue les appurtenances au dit Thomas
Purefey, cez heires et cez assignes, a touts jours. Et en tesmoignance de quels
choses a cestes lettres jeo ay mise mon scale des arms subditz, cestes tesmoignes,
Mons. Johan de Clinton, Mons. W m de Astley, chivalers, . . . et autres.
Donne a Fenny Drayton subditz, en la feste de Saint Jake 1' Apostle, Pan le reign
du Roy Richard le seconde puis le conquest le vintisme primer. 2
Here again is an ordinary conveyance, and as in the last
case, the grant is to the heirs and assigns ; but there is the
addition that the grantor and his heirs will warrant to the
grantee, his heirs and assigns.
By a deed dated 12 March 1404, William Haywode of
Strathfieldsay, esq., conveyed to John Fromond, his heirs
and assigns, the manor of Haywode in Strathfieldsay, together
with a coat of arms.
* which arms appertain to the lands and tenements aforesaid, and which arms
I have used and borne before this time by reason of the right to the lands and
tenements aforesaid ' ; and he releases and quitclaims the lands and the arms,
* so that I, ... my heirs and assigns, cannot have or claim any right, title, or
claim thereto in time to come.' 3
1 Harl. MS. ii78,fo.42d.
2 Mus Brit., Add. MS. 6297, fo. 218.
3 Ibid. Add. Ch. 36,987. See also Journal of the British Archeeological
Association, 1891, p. 323, where the document will be found in full, with some
notes by Dr. W. de Gray Birch.
HERALDS' COLLEGE 219
This does not differ materially from the previous examples,
save in the curious recital that Haywode's title to the arms
was by right of ownership of the manor of Haywode. It
would be interesting to trace the earlier history of the manor.
1404. A tons ceulx qui ces lettres verront ou orront, Johan Tochet, Sire
d'Audeley, salus. Savoir vous faisons que nous per consideration que nos
eschiers et bienamez Johan Macworth et Thomas Macworth son frere sont
estraitz de et vaillants gens, et aussi pour le bon service que leurs ancestres ont
fait a noz ancestres nous voudrions leement fere que purroit honurer et avancer
leurs estats, si avons en avancement et honnour des estatz des ditz Johan et
Thomas lour donne parcelle de nos armes d'Audeley et de Tochet ; avoir et
porter ovec certeins differences, come piert per un escocheon dessoubs paintz,
les colours sable et ermeyn partez et endentez ovec un cheveron de goules frettez
d'or et les armes d'Audeley ; et un creste, cestassavoir, une eele, q'este parcelle
de nostre creste d'Audeley, de quele ele les plumes serront des colours de sable
et d'ermeyn. A avoir et porter les dites armes, ovec autielx differenes come
lour semble mieux affaire hors de mesme les armes, a eulx et a lour heires, de
nous et de nos heirs pur tous jours, sanz empeschement de nous ou de noz
heirs q'conque pur le temps avenir. En tesmoignance de quele chose, aicestes
noz presentes lettres nous avons fait mettre nostre seal. Donne soubz nostre
manoir de Marketon, le primer jour d' August, 1'an du grace mile quatre centz
quart. 1
Here we have not a transfer of existing arms, but a grant
of a newly devised coat, exactly on all fours with a grant by
a herald. Lord Audley, wishing to honour his two esquires,
John and Thomas Macworth, devises for them a coat com-
pounded of his own quartered arms of Touchet and Audley.
It is a pretty variation of principle : if a man can assign the
whole, he can assign the part. We have seen that the Earl of
Lincoln passed his purple lion to a Scrope. Lord Audley's
grant was much more artistic. He includes also a crest,
* parcel of our crest of Audley,' and grants the arms and crest
' to hold of us and our heirs for ever.' But perhaps the most
remarkable point in this very interesting document is that
relating to the differencing of the coat as between the two
brothers : the arms are granted to them both, to be borne
with such differences as they may choose to arrange.
1422. Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego, Thomas de Clanvowe, chivaler,
dedi, concessi, et hac presenti carta mea confirmavi Willelmo Criktot, consan-
guineo meo, arma mea et jus eadem gerendi quae mihi jure haereditario descend-
erunt ; Habenda et tenenda praedicta arma mea et jus eadem gerendi praefato
Willelmo, haeredibus et assignatis suis, absque reclamatione mei vel haeredum
1 Harleian MS. 1410, fo. 43.
220 THE ANCESTOR
meorum imperpetuum. Et ego, praedictus Thomas et hseredes mei prasdicta
arma et jus eadem gerendi praefato Willelmo, haeredibus et assignatis suis, contra
omnes gentes warantizabimus imperpetuum. In cujus rei testimonium present!
cartae mei sigillum meum opposui. Datum apud Hergast, in festo Corporis
Christi, anno regni Regis Henrici quinti post conquestum undecimo. 1
There is some mistake in the date of this copy, for Henry V.
died in his tenth regnal year. Corpus Christi day, 10 Henry V.,
would fall in 1422. If the error is in the royal number, we
have the choice of 1410, II Henry IV., or 1433, II Henry VI.
The grant follows the usual conveyancing form, with two
variations : it includes not merely the arms, but the right of
bearing them, a fine legal distinction ; and it is expressed to
be * without reclaim by me or my heirs.' Assigns are men-
tioned, and there is a general warranty against all men.
1436. Noverint universi per presentes me, Joannam nuper uxorem Wil-
lelmi Lee de Knightley, dominam et rectam heredem de Knightley, dedisse,
concessisse, et hac present! carta mea confirmasse Ricardo Peshale, filio Humfridi
Peshale, scutum armorum meorum ; Habendum et tenendum ac portandum
et utendum ubicunque voluerit sibi et heredibus suis imperpetuum ; Ita quod
nee ego nee aliquis alius nomine meo aliquod jus vel clameum seu calumpniam
in predicto scuto habere potuerimus, sed per presentes sumus exclusi imper-
petuum. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum meum apposui. Datum apud
Knightley, die Mercurii proxima post festum Paschae, anno regni Regis Henrici
sexti post conquestum quarto-decimo. 1
This grant by the Lady of Knightley is probably the best-
known of all such cases. 2 It differs from those already printed
chiefly in what may be called the renunciation clause, which
is very full : ( so that neither I, nor any other in my name,
may have any right, claim or challenge to the said shield, but
that we, by these presents, may be for ever excluded.' This
is the common-form clause in a release of rights to real pro-
perty.
1442. Humfrey, Counte de Stafford et de Perch, Seignour de Tunbrigg
et de Caux. a toutz ceux qui cestes presentes littres verrount ou orrount, Salutz.
Saches que nous, considerans les merites que deyuent estre attribues a toutes
persones issues de bone lien et exersauntez bones moures et vertues eaux con-
duysantz termes d'onneur et gentilesse ycelle a consideration nous a move
d'augmenter en honneur et noblesse noble home Robert Whitgreve, et luy avoy
donne et donnontz par icestes presentes pour memorie d'onnour perpetuel, a
portre ses armes en signe de noblesse un escu d'asure a quatre pointz d'or,
quatre cheverons de gueles, et luy de porter as autres persons nobles de son
linage en descent avecques les differences de descent au dit blazon, et pour de
1 Harleian MS. 1178, fo. 45. * See Ancestor y ii. 4.
HERALDS' COLLEGE 221
tout armoyer et revesture son dit blazon et en honeur le repaver a nouz avecque
celuy ordonne, et attribus heaulme et timbre, cestassavoir, le healme en mantelle
de bloy furrey d'ermines, au une coronne de gules assis sur le dit heaulme, en
dedins la coronne une demy antelope d'or. Et pour ceste nostre lettre patent
de dit donne verifier en testemoigne la nous fait sceler du scele de nous proppres
armes, le xiij jour d'Agust, Tan du raigne le Roy H. sisme puis le conquest
vicessime. 1
The earl's recital is strongly suggestive of the long pre-
amble beloved of the Elizabethan and later heralds. The
description of the shield is curious ; the tricking shows a cross
with a chevron in each quarter. The grant even prescribes
the mantling, which, as in so many early cases, does not follow
the rule laid down by later heralds.
1568. George Bullock, ' late Mr. Conner over the companye of the Ordin-
arye Gonners ' of Berwick-on-Tweed, made his will on 13 June, 1568. By it
he granted and freely gave to his son-in-law, Rowland Johnson, gentleman,
* the Mr. Mayson and Surveyor of the Quene's Majeste's workes there : an armes,
whiche ys two speres, the one broken and the other hole, with certayne moore-
cockes standinge in a shielde, which sheilde ys th'one halfe blacke and the other
half blewe ; the helmet blewe, mantyled white and black, with twoe yellow
tassells lyke gold at the endes ; whiche armes was wonne by the sayde George
Bullocke xxviij*' yeres sence, of a Scottishe gentilman, one of the house of Cock-
burne. And nowe the sayde George Bullocke by that his sayde last will and
testamente dothe frelye gyve and surrender over the same armes unto his sayde
sonne in lawe . . . for to gyve or use yt in everye condicion as lardgelye and as
amplye as the sayde George Bullock might or owghte to have gyven yt in his
lyfe time.' 2
Tong, in his visitation of Lancashire, 1532-9, records a
somewhat similar case :
Mark that the sayd Master Asheton at the Scottysh felde tooke a prysoner,
whose name was Sir John Forman, Serjeant Porter to the Scottysh King ; and
also he tooke Alexander Bunne, Sheriff of Aberdyne ; which two prisoners he
delivered to my Lord of Norfolke that now ys, to know how he shall bear ther
armes. 3
In this case and the last we have examples of arms of con-
quest, where * a poore archer have take a prince or sum noble
lorde, and so th'armys of that prysoner ... he may put to
hym and his hayris.' The prisoners of Master Assheton were
1 Harleian MSS. 1439, fo. l8d ; 4630, fo. 16.
2 Mus. Brit., Add. Ch. 19,882. See also Journal of the British Archaeological
Association, 1891, p. 326, where the document is printed in full by Dr. W. de
Gray Birch.
3 Dallaway's Inquiries, 316.
P
222 THE ANCESTOR
not of noble rank, nor was their captor a poor archer, but the
head of an ancient Lancashire house. The Scotch war ap-
parently refers to the Flodden campaign.
1654-5. Edwardus, Marchio et Comes Wigorniae, Baro Herbert de Chep-
stow, Raglan et Gower, omnibus ad quos presentes literae nostrae pervenerint,
salutem. Sciatis quod quum Thomas Bayly, armiger, ob id quod de nostra
familia semper est optime meritus, non minori virtute quam sincera fide, et
omni genere obsequiorum, et potissimum ob res ab eo tarn prseclare et strenue
gestas in obsidione Arcis Raglan, domus patris mei (tune Imperatoris exercitum
Meridionalis Walliae) ab eodem per literas patentes authoritate plena equitum
colonellus sancitus est, atque ego modo multis in rebus dictum Thomam sibi
semper similem expertus, licet aliud mihi nihil integrum habeam quo constan-
tiam tantam compensem et justae ipsius expectationi faciam satis,' ne ingratus
videar ; Omnibus ad quos ullo pacto spectabit et praecipue Reipublice hujus
Angliae Faecialibus et Heraldis, declaro et per hunc meum proprium et spon-
taneum actum, permitto, concedo et dono dicto Thomae Bayly et suis deinceps
haeredibus, ut perpetuo scribant et divisim gerant in suis armorum scutis cristam
meam (et majorum meorum) propriam nimirum rostrum militare sive catarac-
tam auream, coronatam [corona] Marcionis, in campo rubeo, sicut in margine
depingitur, ac ut hoc honoris insigne in eum ejusque posteros semper continu-
ntur volo. In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes.
Datas apud Westmonasterium, 26' die Februarii, I654. 1
1656. Edwardus, Marchio et Comes Wigorniae et Glamorgan, Vicecomes
Grosmont et Caldicott, Baro Herbert de Chepstow, Ragland et Gower, et
praenobilis Ordinis Garterii miles, omnibus ad quos praesentes litterae nostrae
pervenerint. Sciatis quod cum Ludovicus Morgan de Societate Grayensi,
armiger, ob id quod non minore virtute quam sincera fide, et omni genere
obsequiorum optime meritus, atque ego modo multis in rebus dictum Ludovicum
sibi semper similem expertus ; licet aliud mihi nihil integrum habeam quo con-
stantiam tantam compensam et justae ipsius expectationi faciam satis, ne in-
gratus videar ; omnibus ad quos ullo pacto spectabit, et maxime praecipue
Reipublicae hujus Angliae Faecialibus et Heraldis declaro, et per hunc meum
proprium et spontaneum actum permitto, concedo et dono dicto Ludovico, et
suis deinceps haeredibus, ut perpetuo scribant et divisim gerant in suis armorum
scutis cristam meam et majorum meorum propriam, nimirum rostrum militare
sive cataractam auream, coronatam corona Marchionis, in campo rubeo, sicut
in margine depingitur ; Ac ut hoc honoris insigne in eum ejusque posteros
semper continuetur, volo. In cujus rei testimonium has litteras nostras fieri
fecimus patentes, Datas apud Westmonasterium, tertio die Julii, l6$6?
The most remarkable point about these two documents
is the date. It might have been objected that the practice
of private grants had become obsolete with the foundation of
the college, but here are two cases 170 years after Richard III.'s
ineffective foundation in 1484, and a century after the real
incorporation in 1555.
Harleian MS. 1470, fo. 246. 2 Ibid. fo. 48.
HERALDS' COLLEGE 223
But, it may be urged, both these self-styled grants are
during the Commonwealth, when there was no king, no earl
marshal, when Garter himself was one usurper appointed by
another. The answer to this is supplied by Mr. Phillimore.
* It is not a little remarkable (he writes) that even the turbulent
period of the great rebellion saw no disturbance of the officers
of arms, who pursued the duties of their office with perfect
equanimity under Cromwell and Charles alike.' i
The equanimity of Sir Edward Walker, Dugdale, and the
other dispossessed heralds is perhaps open to question, but the
passage quoted states the undoubted fact that the college
seems to have gone on during the Commonwealth period with
practically no change except in the person of some of its
officers.
Note that the marquis boldly addressed * all whom it may
in any way concern, and most especially the Poursuivants and
Heralds of this Republic of England.' This is either a tacit
statement that the heralds were bound to admit as of course
the right of the marquis to make the grant, and its validity
when made, or it is the merest bravado. And this leads us to
what is the real significance of these two grants. The govern-
ment may have been a republic, and Garter may have been
* bogus,' but the Marquis of Worcester was an ' armigerous
gent ' of some considerable social position. Edward Somerset,
second Marquis and sixth Earl of Worcester, was born in 1601,
and succeeded his father in 1646. A zealous royalist, he was
imprisoned in the Tower from July 1652 to October 1654,
and his property was sequestered. This explains his pathetic
statement that he has no means of making a recompence to his
two faithful followers in any way worthy of their merits, but
not wishing to seem ungrateful, he grants them an ensign of
honour to be handed down to their descendants. His son
Henry was created Duke of Beaufort in 1682.
His grandfather, Edward, Earl of Worcester, had been one
of the commissioners for executing the office of earl marshal
in 1604 and 1617. Such a man, we may conceive, was hardly
likely to go through the farce of making these two grants if he
knew that they were illegal and ineffectual. We may there-
fore take it that he, rightly or wrongly, thought he had full
power to grant a part of his arms to his two friends.
* Herddi' College and Coats-oj-drms, p. 4.
224 THE ANCESTOR
We thus see that well down to Dugdale's time l the old
practice of ' every man his own herald ' was not entirely
obsolete ; and that the right of assumption and prescription,
recognized by the heralds, still retained its ancient corollary
of the right of grant or conveyance.
1 Dugdale's first heraldic appointment was as Blanch Lyon Poursuivant
Extraordinary in 1638.
W. PALEY BAILDON.
THE CURWENS OF WORKINGTON 1
THE name and arms of Curwen, with the lands of Work-
ington, were carried by marriage in 1782 to Christian
of Ewanrigg, a descendant of the Christians of the Isle of Man.
From this match come the present Curwetis of Workington,
the representatives of one of the most ancient knightly families
in Cumberland, for a memorial of whom Mr. John F. Curwen
of Kendal, corresponding secretary of the Cumberland and
Westmorland Antiquarian Society and a Curwen of the male
line, is editing the annotated pedigree of which two parts
out of four lie before us.
The stout paper and clear type of this pedigree give it a
pleasant air of permanence which even the ornamental initials,
beloved of the local printer, do not weaken. The narrative
is clearly arranged, and the chart pedigrees, although on fold-
ing sheets, do not tear at the first or second handling.
That the history of so ancient a family should begin with
a charter rather than a legend is a good omen, and with Ketel
son of Eltred we begin, which Ketel gives to the monks of
St. Mary of York the church of Morlund and the church of
Wirchington, with land in Wirchington. He names his father
Eltred, his wife Christian, and William his son, so that we have
good material for choosing out our Ketel from amongst the
many other Ketels of the north. To the foundation charter
of Wetherhal Priory he was a witness, at a date reckoned as
being between the years 1092 and 1112. His lands were in
Westmorland and Cumberland, and an inspeximus of Ed-
ward I. recites his gift of land in Kirkby Kendal to the hos-
pital of St. Peter of York.
The Curwens gave freely to holy church, and this open-
handedness affords such help to the searcher after their history
that the pedigree of the family may be pieced together with
singular ease. Orm,the son of Ketel, married Gunhild, sister
of Waltheof of Allerdale, who as Waltheof, son of Earl Gos-
patrick (of Dunbar), is said to have given Seaton, Camerton,
Flimby and Greysouthen with Gunhild his sister to Orm, son
of Ketel.
1 The Curwen Pedigree, by John F. Cunven of Kendal. Parts I. and II.
225
226 THE ANCESTOR
Gospatrick, son of Orm, commemorated this marriage in
his name, and was a benefactor of Holme Cultram. He was
the first of the Curwen lords of Workington, which he had
with Lamplugh of William of Lancaster in exchange for
Middleton in Westmorland, as appears by a deed which is still
at Workington Hall. When William the Lion rode through
Cumberland in 1174 Gospatrick, son of Orm, an aged English-
man, yielded Appleby Castle, of which he was constable, to
the Scottish king. He is said to have died in 1179, a date for
which no evidence is quoted.
The pious gifts of Thomas, son of Gospatrick, are recorded
in more than one page of the Monasticon, the Premonstratensian
canons being chosen out for especial generosity. Lamplugh
he granted away to Robert of Lamplugh, who was to render
the pair of gilt spurs yearly which Thomas owed to William of
Lancaster. And here we are stayed by Mr. Curwen's amazing
comment that ' every knight who served on horseback was-
obliged to wear his equites aurati.' As * equites aurati ' can
only be translated as ' knights,' we feel that the Protestant
reporter who described the chancel of a ritualist church as
hung with ' burning thurifers ' has at last been matched.
This Thomas is said, no authority being cited, to have had
the lordship of Culwen in Galloway from his kinsman Rowland,,
son of Ughtred of Galloway, and to have given it to his son
Patrick. This Patrick, a younger son, was heir to his brother
Thomas or to Thomas's daughter, and was the next head of
the house. Mr. Curwen styles Patrick the first bearer of the
surname of Curwen in its old form of Culwen, but he cites no
evidence in which he is called by any other name than Patrick,
son of Thomas. His seal is the first evidence of the arms of
the family, which are of silver fretted gules with a chief azure.
This seal is found to a deed, presumably at Workington. The
inscription is siGiLL' PATRICII FILM THOME.
At every step the pedigree of the main line is strengthened
by the confirmation by the Curwens of their forefathers' gifts
to the church. Gilbert, the grandson of Patrick son of
Thomas, according to the register of Holme Cultram as quoted
by Dugdale, gives a pedigree of no less than six generations,
speaking of himself as Gilbert of Workington, son of Gilbert,
son of Patrick who was son of Thomas, son of Gospatrick, son
of Orme. The descent certainly agrees in this case with known
facts, although we are suspicious by habit of charters which
THE CURWENS OF WORKINGTON 227
name more than two ancestors. This Gilbert of Workington
is also Gilbert of Culwen, and from his time the surname of
Culwen or Curwen becomes the settled use of the family.
Workington had its licence to battle its walls in 1379 under
Gilbert, fourth of his name, a sheriff of Cumberland. The
family rose to some eminence in the world under Sir Chris-
topher, lord of Workington from 1404 to 1450, who fought in
the wars of Henry V. and Henry VI., and earned a castle and
land in the province of Caux. Needless to say this possession
was soon swept away by the rising tide of French lordship in
France. Sir Christopher lies under the best of the Curwen
monuments, a tomb at Workington with effigies of himself
and his lady. Upon this tomb we see the Curwen crest of a
unicorn's head, not ' a unicorn's head erased,' as Canon Bower
would describe it. His seal has crest and supporters, the crest
in this case being a demi-unicorn, and the supporters a maiden
in a long gown and a unicorn. The silver original is said to
be preserved at Workington, but if the illustration of it may
be trusted, the piece can hardly be genuine, for the picture
shows a seal impossibly unlike anything of the period.
The Sir Thomas Curwen of Henry VIII. 's day, * an ex-
cellent archer at twelvescore,' had an old friendship with his
king and begged of him a lease of Furness Abbey. Those who
would have statistics of the curse which abbey lands bring
with them will be disappointed to hear that five generations
follow Sir Thomas in the direct line, and that Workington
and the Curwens came by no ill that can be reasonably traced
to the Furness lease.
A Sunday evening in May of 1568 saw a fishing boat driven
by weather into Workington Bay with Mary the Queen of
Scots on the deck. The queen and the Lord Herries were
made guests at Workington Hall, and left the agate cup behind
them which is one of the heirlooms of Workington. Sir
Henry Curwen, the queen's kind though probably unwilling
host, rode into Scotland with Sussex and Scrope in 1570 and
brought thence the iron gates of Carlaverock Castle, a more
substantial heirloom, to be hung in the Workington gatehouse.
The civil war found Sir Patricius Curwen of Workington
a baronet and a royalist colonel, who followed the king to
Oxford. He survived, and there follows amongst the family
memorials the familiar whining petition to the commissioners
for composition of estates. His warlike doings were unim-
228 THE ANCESTOR
portant, and a fine of 2,000 saved Workington Hall. The
baronetcy died with him, but he lived to see the Restoration
and to make a will in 1664 in which he utterly abhorred and re-
nounced * all Idolatry and Superstition, all Heresy and Schism.'
* Galloping Harry Curwen ' of Workington went into exile
with King James II., and he was so long in France that a kins-
man in 1696 had a verdict that the squire was dead, and that
Darcy Curwen of Sella was heir of Workington, a verdict which
brought Harry back home in hot haste. The sturdy faith of
Sir Patricius disappeared with him, and Harry Curwen is
found in 1715 a papist and non- juror. His death provided
Workington Hall with the family ghost which such a seat
demands. A French lady and her maid, whose presence at
the hall cannot be* explained without scandal, took the old
man when nigh to death and dragged him downstairs, whilst
they plundered his cupboards and strong boxes. Since that
day Harry's head still disturbs the watches of the night by
bumping from stair to stair.
The history of the Curwens will be completed in two more
parts, for which we shall look with interest. Mr. Curwen's
arrangement of his work is clear and the narrative may be
easily followed, but many criticisms may be offered of his
methods.
Throughout the story the suspicion arises that we have
here a pedigree in which new wine is poured into old bottles.
Marriages and the like are recorded again and again without
evidence of any sort, and it is disturbing to think that the trim-
ming of this carefully-considered work maybe from some seven-
teenth century pedigree with its guesswork and misapprehen-
sions. The record work is not thorough enough. In a book
of this importance we look at least for such important evidences
as wills and inquests post-mortem to be quoted accurately
and fully, but we find important inquests quoted from the old
printed calendars without description of their contents, and
the wills of the family do not seem to have been examined in
detail. Many Latin evidences are cited without references,
and the Latin abbreviations are set down without amplifica-
tion or the use of record founts. In many cases the Latin
is copied with doubtful accuracy * probio ' for ' presbytero '
might be amended, and diphthongs of * se ' are printed as
* oe.' * S. Christofer of Curwen chi lod of Cany ell ' cannot
be a fair reading of an English deed of 1435, and * the Rev.
THE CURWENS OF WORKINGTON 229
Thomas Curwen, a Roman Catholick priest ' of the fifteenth
century is a gross anachronism in form. The Christian names
of the earlier folk follow the slipshod form which translates the
men and leaves the women for the most part in the charter
Latin. If Alicia be translated as Alice, why should Avicia
not appear as Avice. Grace and Edith appear in the pedigree
in English, whilst Isabella and Margareta are untranslated.
Mr. Curwen will find that the ' castle of Rothomagium,' from
which King Henry V. gives a grant to a Curwen, is also capable
of translation. Surely he would not speak of one of his bor-
derers as being hung at Carliolensis gaol ?
We understand that all the copies of this edition are
already disposed of, so that Mr. Curwen will doubtless be
persuaded to undertake a second one in which many of these
points will be considered.
O. B.
230 THE ANCESTOR
THE FORTUNES OF A MIDLAND HOUSE
MR. BARRON'S criticism on the way in which the earlier
generations of the Middlemores are treated in my his-
tory of that family raises an important question as to the
manner in which we are to regard the pedigrees handed down
to us by the Elizabethan genealogists, official and otherwise.
It would seem that in Mr. Barren's view such pedigrees ought
to be discarded unless good record evidence is forthcoming
to support them. This surely is too sweeping too icono-
clastic. Doubtless many Elizabethan pedigrees will not bear
close investigation, and doubtless too the age was not suffi-
ciently critical as we now understand criticism in matters of
genealogy. But it is not reasonable to treat all Elizabethan
pedigrees as presumptively erroneous, and the better course
is to consider each pedigree upon its merits and to accept it
as presumably true if prepared by a known genealogist, even if
merely official, provided it does not extend over too long a
period, and abstains from performing genealogical gymnastics
with the object of attaching a family of middle rank to some
race of greater note in another and distant county. Thus
the many pedigrees of middle class Gloucestershire families
given by John Smith of Nibley, which often go back for many
generations, though it might be hard to prove them now by
record evidence, are presumably correct, and it is quite reason-
able to accept them as in the main accurate. But a case like
the Gloucestershire Selwyns, for whom an attempt was made
to tack them on to the distant and more notable family of that
name in Sussex, at once excites suspicion and challenges in-
quiry. So too do the pedigrees of common names, like Smith,
whether prepared by Elizabethan or Victorian genealogists,
bid us to be critical when we find them claiming descent from
some more notable line.
In the case of the Middlemores a consideration of all the
circumstances indicates that the Elizabethan and Jacobean
pedigrees of the family are in the main correct, and in the
absence of any evidence militating against them it is a reason-
able course to accept them so long as it is made perfectly clear
FORTUNES OF A MIDLAND HOUSE 231
to the reader on what authority they rest. That is the course
I followed in the Middlemore book. There is absolutely no
evidence against the pedigrees, and they receive confirmation
from the fact that we find persons in Warwickshire records
corresponding as to date with most of the persons named in
the pedigrees.
The pedigree in the Vincent MSS., which is the authority
for the connection between the Edgbaston Middlemores
and those of Hawkeslow, has for its author Augustine Vincent,
the herald, who was contemporary with Richard Middlemore
of Edgbaston, Simon Middlemore of the Haselwell line, and
John Middlemore of Hawkeslow. These three men, all in
the same rank of life, if Vincent's account be correct, would
be fourth cousins. It is perfectly reasonable for so short a
pedigree to accept the statement of a professional genealogist
as correct, even if at the present day unsupported by record
evidence ; it would be unreasonable to do otherwise. In
this case we have better cause to accept Vincent's statement,
as he was himself connected with Sheepey, in which village
Simon's son, George Middlemore, had settled.
But in the present case strong confirmatory record evi-
dence has come to light since the book was issued, which an-
swers plainly two of Mr. Barren's pertinent questions, (i)
What authority is there for the existence of Nicholas Middle-
more ? and (2) How do we know that Isabel, the wife of the
London merchant, Thomas Middlemore, was an Edgbaston ?
To the first question an entry in the gild book of the Holy
Trinity at Stratford-on-Avon, lately sent me by Mr. Harvey
Bloom, rector of Whitchurch, is a sufficient reply.
Nicholas Myddelmore, esquire, and Margery his wife,
were admitted 15 Henry VI. [1436-7], a date which agrees
with the period of that Nicholas who figures as the stock-
father of the Hawkesley Middlemores.
Then as to Isabel Edgbaston. If Mr. Barron had kept
himself abreast of genealogical literature a hard task truly,
but we expect much from him he would have seen that
General Wrottesley has printed in the Genealogist, xviii. 238,
a De Banco suit of 35 Henry VI. which gives the following
pedigree.
232 THE ANCESTOR
John son of Henry de= Isabella
Eggebaston, seized
temp. . III.
Richard
Isabella
Richard Middlemore
These and various other points are dealt with in a small
supplement which I have just printed, and from that it will
be seen that we are now able to carry the Middlemores back
into the reign of Edward the Second. One small criticism of
Mr. Barron's it is impossible not to sympathize with the
absence of any rule in my book as to the use of the double date.
But, alas, register certificates coming without the context do
not allow us always to precisely indicate the date, and even
the registers themselves sometimes leave us in doubt. But
generally it may be taken that any date between I January and
25 March may with great probability be ascribed to the sub-
sequent year in order to reduce it to more modern chronology.
The date May, on page 36 of the Middlemore history, to
which Mr. Barron refers, is obviously an error for March an
error of the same class as the reviewer's mistake of writing Lye
for Sye, or filager for filacer. And whilst dealing with such
points it may be well to add that Col. R. F. Middlemore never
was * of Grantham,' and that it was the son, and not the grand-
son, of Richard Middlemore who in 1869 bought from his
cousins the ancient estate of Hawkesley.
W. P. W. PHILLIMORE.
Mr. Phillimore has our congratulations upon the discovery by General
Wrottesley of the proof for the Middlemore marriage with Edgbaston, and
upon Mr. Bloom's discovery of a Nicholas and Agnes Middlemore. But both
discoveries, as Mr. Phillimore will be the first to admit, leave our original
criticism of his work untouched. One assertion of the Elizabethan pedigree
which lacked proof has now been proved, and a second has its probability
strengthened, but many other weak links remain to be strengthened before we
can regard Mr. Thomas Middlemore's eighteen generations of pedigree as a
record secure at all points.
Our difference with Mr. Phillimore lies after all in our attitude toward*
these long pedigrees which the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries set down
in the visitation books and other genealogical records. Mr. Phillimore's con-
tention is that they should as a rule be ' accepted as presumably true ' if pre-
pared by a known genealogist a phrase which should surely include every
officer of arms. They must not be too long, a phrase which should, we submit,
discredit the earlier and still unproved generations of the Middlemores. Mr.
Phillimore's last stipulation that the pedigree to be accepted should abstain
from connecting families of middle rank with great families of the same surname
and of distant dwelling place is an unfortunate one, for he thereby admits that
his pedigree makers would forge with a good will when such imaginative work
was demanded of them. In the case of the Middlemores we have suggested no
inherent improbability in any part of the genealogies before us, but the un-
trustworthiness in detail of all such early genealogies is well seen in the instance
of the Middlemores of Haslewell. Here we have two early versions of the
pedigree. Vincent's pedigree on the one hand gives us a John Middlemore in
the direct line who married Alice Rotsey, and had issue George. The pedigree
officially registered by the heralds in 1634 omits both John and Alice, which
story shall be ' accepted as presumably true ' ? In this case Mr. Phillimore
will admit the difficulty of following his rule, although he suggests reasons for
believing Vincent's version rather than the official.
A further difficulty will be found in Mr. Phillimore's phrase of the ' known
genealogist ' whose work is to be trusted. We suggest to Mr. Phillimore, an
expert in genealogy, that there are few early genealogists to whom the adjective
* notorious ' rather than ' known ' would not be more justly applied. Vincent
himself, indifferent honest, and laborious beyond measure, was both credulous
and careless. He accepted the monstrous pedigree of the Spencers, neighbours
of his own family, without difficulty, and his pedigrees for the mediaeval period
often suggest the well-known method of arranging people of one surname in
the order in which their names are found in deeds and records and connecting
them with lines of descent.
Mr. Phillimore would make our condemnation of the Elizabethan genealogists
more sweeping than our words justify. We do not hold that their work should
be cast aside or disregarded unless ' good record evidence be forthcoming to
support them.' But whilst receiving them with all the interest and respect
which they may claim, we deny that they can in any circumstances be received
as undoubted ' proofs ' of a descent. We will willingly go further than this,
and say that not the Elizabeth pedigree alone, but no pedigree, old or new,
can be treated as presumably accurate unless the collateral evidence of records
be in its favour. In this matter we need maintain no appearance of disputing
with Mr. Phillimore, whose real agreement with us we do not doubt.
For the Middlemore pedigree we repeat that our criticism holds good. The
early generations of the Middlemores remain unproven, and the precise line of
descent of Mr. Thomas Middlemore of Melsetter from the parent stock of
Middlemore of Edgbaston is not yet ascertained. [Eo.]
234 THE ANCESTOR
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ENGLISH COUNTS OF THE EMPIRE
IN my article on this subject I urged 1 the importance of
ascertaining " the actual words of the limitation " in the
famous grant to Sir Thomas Arundel of a Countship of the
Empire (14 Dec. 1595). A correspondent has pointed
out to me that the patent of creation is printed dn
Selden's Titles of Honour (1672), and although that work is
not indexed and does not mention this patent in its table of
contents, I found it there at last on p. 347. The essential
words, it will be seen, make the honour descendible to all
and each of the grantee's children, heir, posterity and des-
cendants, of either sex, born or to be born, for ever.
te supradictum Thomam Arundelium qui^jam ante comitum consanguini-
tatem a majoribus acceptam in Anglia obtines, omnesque et singulos liberos,
haeredes, posteros, et descendentes tuos legitimos utriusque sexus natos aeter-
naque serie nascituros etiam veros sacros (sic) Roman! Imperil Comites et
Comitissas creavimus, fecimus, et nominavimus, tituloque, honore et dignitate
comitatus Imperialis auximus atque insignivimus sicut vigore praesentium
creamus, facimus, etc. . . . unacum universa prole atque posteritate legitima
mascula et foeminea in infinitum titulum, nomen, etc.
Wide and sweeping as is this limitation, it is obviously
irreconcilable with the view that Lord Clifford is a Count of
the Empire in virtue of his representing one of the daughters
and coheirs of one of the Lords Arundel. This, as I have said,
confuses the foreign with the English system of nobility. The
above limitation must be construed either as ennobling all
the members of the Arundel family descended from the
grantee (which I contend is the right interpretation) or as
ennobling the host of families who can trace descent from him
through any number of females. In neither case can it be
limited to Lord Clifford as the coheir of one Lord Arundel.
And this conclusion must apply mutatis mutandis to the
St. Paul case also.
J. HORACE ROUND.
1 Ancestor, vii. 15.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 235
THE CRESSY FAMILY
SIR,
In No. 2, p. 213 of the Ancestor there is an error which I
venture to correct. It is in the abstract of a Chancery suit
in which the Tyrwhit and Cressy families are concerned.
Faith, the wife of George Tyrwhit, is said to have been
* daughter of Everingbam Cressy, a Lincolnshire Justice,' etc.
As a matter of fact her father was Nicholas Cressy of Fulsby
in the parish of Kirkby-on-Bain. In his will dated 22 Feb.
i6lff, and proved 9 Aug. 1630, he mentions his eldest
daughter, Faith Tyrwhit, and his grandchild, Francis Pagett.
She had married William Pagett at Kirkby-on-Bain 1 1 Apl.
1615, and she married her second husband, George Tyrwhit,
24 Aug. 1626, at West Keal. He had been baptized at East
Keal 1 5 July 1 604. She outlived him, and died at Scrivelsby
(where she made her will 18 Feb. i6f8 ; proved 13 July
1672), the home of her sister Jane, Lady Dymoke.
A. K. MADDISON.
VICARS' COURT, LINCOLN.
7 March 1904.
GILBERT PECHE OF CORBY
SIR,
I shall be extremely obliged if one of your correspondents
will help me to the elucidation of the following doubtful points.
Gilbert Peche, Lord of Corby (Northants), whose name and
seal appear attached to the Barons' Letter, is said to have died
1322, and to have had two brothers who were disinherited.
The accounts of his parentage and of his wife's name differ,
and I am anxious to know what became of his descendants
and of those of his two brothers.
Yours faithfully,
GEORGE C. PEACHEY.
BRIGHTWALTON, WANTAGE.
236 THE ANCESTOR
EDITORIAL NOTES
MORE than one copy has reached us of a circular con-
cerning a History of Derbyshire projected by a Mr.
Pym Yeatman, whose book upon The Brownes of Becbworth
Castle is also in our hands. Mr. Yeatman has many enemies.
His publishers and his printers would seem to have taken
counsel together to do him evil. He is wronged by the
heralds of arms, by the Saturday Review, by his fellow-barris-
ters, by the Midland Circuit mess, by the benchers, and by
the judges, * who have been bribed to aid the carpet-baggers/
and who refuse him the ' Patent of Precedence,' without
which Mr. Yeatman will not practise any more in courts of
appeal. This patent is urgently needed for Mr. Yeatman's
protection ( from the insults, injustice, and it is really terrible
to write it the slanders from which he has repeatedly suffered
so severely from both Bench and Bar.' More especially is
Mr. Pym Yeatman wronged by the existence of Mr. Horace
Round, ' one of the worst critics of the days,' and by all Yeat-
manly standards a c crassly ignorant ' person. We do right
then if we endeavour to purge Mr. Round's guilty name from
one offence specified in Mr. Yeatman's circulars. He does
not * edit the Ancestor under the name of his wood-engraver.'
* * #
It is painful to us to have to explain to Mr. Pym Yeatman
that the belief that Mr. Round was editor of the Ancestor,
would, until the Histories of Derbyshire are more widely known
and appreciated, have a certain effect in raising the Ancestor's
sales. For this reason we must confess, however unwillingly,
that Mr. Round does not edit the Ancestor, which is and has
been edited by the person whose name is upon the title-page.
Furthermore, although Mr. Round in his arrogance may go
about, for aught we know, attended by his own wood-engraver
as a Highland chieftain by his bard, we are not that wood-
engraver. The epithet of wood-engraver is a flattering one,
a tempting one to accept. Mrs. Wilier, of Our Mutual Friend,
recalling past glories of her father's table, remembered it as
EDITORIAL NOTES 237
surrounded at one time by ' no less than four wood-engravers,
exchanging the liveliest sallies.' And the beautiful art is dis-
appearing, but for us it must disappear, our ignorance of it
being enough to make Mr. Joseph Pennell very angry indeed.
* * *
Mr. Yeatman's is not the only circular which has made
itself into a paper dart against the Ancestor, but it is the first
to which we have replied. Our correction of poor Mr. Yeat-
man must not be taken as a precedent. If we reply to-day
to circulars and leaflets, we shall reply to-morrow to challenges
from sandwichmen's boards, and the day after to-morrow to
menaces chalked upon our front door.
* # #
The useful record work which can be done by a skilled
antiquary living a hundred miles from the public record office
is well seen in Mr. Walter Rye's new calendar of deeds relating
to Norwich and enrolled in the Norwich court rolls. The
series covers the period from 1285 to 1306. Although few
genealogists of the school which depends upon wills and parish
registers will ever carry their pedigrees to an ancestor amongst
these old Norwich citizens, the archaeological value of the
entries is very great. Sixteen rectors and vicars are added to
the imperfect lists given by Blomefield in his history of Nor-
folk. A bell-founder is found in Norwich a whole century
before the earliest noted by the late Mr. L'Estrange, and the
Norwich industries and crafts are illustrated by the various
callings of the parties to the deeds. That dyeing was already
a famous mystery in Norwich is shown by the numerous
' tinctores,' and * weyders ' or dealers in woad. There are
foreigners from Norway, Tuscany, Bruges and Paris. Eight
people of the knightly class are holders of city property, with
many others of gentle rank. The study of English surnames
is aided by the long line of examples of a period when place-
names, craft-names and nicknames were slowly crystallizing
into fixed and heritable family names.
* # *
The frequent changes of surname amongst medieval
families make bafHing difficulty for the modern genealogist.
It is at least possible that those who come after us will, despite
all the registers of the Registrar-General, find it hard to bridge
Q
238 THE ANCESTOR
the gap which a change of name makes in pedigrees of our own
day. Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore has in type an index to changes
of surnames which will be a key to at least 10,000 families.
The usefulness of this work will be acknowledged to-day, but
its importance will certainly increase with every generation.
*
We have had to encounter many difficulties in setting
about our proposed pictorial survey and record of the ancient
arms in Westminster Abbey. At last we have reason to hope
that our next number will contain the first instalment of
this work so important to students of English armory. Steps
are being taken to obtain casts of the famous shields of arms
in the abbey nave, shields which are remarkable for their
antiquity and interest. Their position and the presence of
gas-brackets and the like have made it hitherto impossible to
secure satisfactory photographs of the whole series.
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
The Stall Plates of the Knights of
the Order of the Garter 1 348-1485
Consisting of a Series of 9 1 Full-sized Coloured Facsimiles
with Descriptive Notes and Historical Introductions by
W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A., F.S.A.
Dedicated by gracious privilege during her lifetime to HER
LATE MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, SOVEREIGN OF THE
MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
'The edition is strictly limited and only 500 copies of the work
have been printed.
The object of the work is to illustrate the whole of the
earlier Stall Plates, being the remaining memorials of the four-
teenth and fifteenth century of Knights elected under the
Plantagenet Sovereigns from Edward the Third, Founder of
the Order, to Richard the Third, inclusive, together with three
palimpsest plates and one of later date.
The Stall Plates are represented full-size and in colours on
Japan vellum, in exact facsimile of the originals, in the highest
style of chromolithography, from photographs of the plates
themselves.
Each plate is accompanied by descriptive and explanatory
notes, and the original and general characteristics of the Stall
Plates are fully dealt with in an historical introduction.
There are also included numerous seals of the Knights, repro-
duced by photography from casts specially taken for this work.
The work may be obtained bound in half leather, gilt,
price 6 net ; or the plates and sheets loose in a portfolio,
5 IQS. net ; or without binding or portfolio, 5 net.
ATHENJEUM : * It is pleasant to welcome the first part of a long
promised and most important heraldic work, and to find nothing to say of it
which is not commendatory. The present part contains ten coloured facsimiles
out of the ninety plates which the work will include when completed. They
reflect the greatest credit on all concerned in their production.'
MORNING POST : * There is a fine field for antiquarian research in the
splendid collection of heraldic plates attached to the stalls in the choir of St.
George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and it will be a matter of satisfaction to all
who are interested in old memorials that Mr. W. H. St. John Hope has given
close examination to these ancient insignia and now presents the results of his
investigations, with many reproductions.'
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THE PASTON LETTERS
Edited by JAMES GAIRDNER
Of the Public Record Office
4 vols.y iis. net
THE FOURTH VOLUME CONTAINING THE INTRODUCTION AND
SUPPLEMENT MAY BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY
Price i os. 6d. net
These Letters are the genuine correspondence of a family in
Norfolk during the Wars of the Roses. As such they are altogether
unique in character ; yet the language is not so antiquated as to present
any serious difficulty to the modern reader. The topics of the letters
relate partly to the private affairs of the family, and partly to the
stirring events of the time ; and the correspondence includes State
papers, love-letters, bailiffs' accounts, sentimental poems, jocular epistles,
etc.
Besides the public news of the day, such as the loss of Normandy
by the English ; the indictment and subsequent murder at sea of the
Duke of Suffolk ; and all the fluctuations of the great struggle of York
and Lancaster ; we have the story of John Paston's first introduction
to his wife ; incidental notices of severe domestic discipline, in which
his sister frequently had her head broken ; letters from Dame Elizabeth
Brews, a match-making mamma, who reminds the youngest John
Paston that Friday is * St. Valentine's Day,' and invites him to come
and visit her family from the Thursday evening till the Monday, etc.,
etc.
Every letter has been exhaustively annotated ; and a Chronological
Table, with most copious Indices, conclude the Work.
HENRT HALLAM, Introduction to the Literature of Europe, i. 228. Ed. 1837 : The
Paston Letters are an important testimony to the progressive condition of Society, and come in
as a precious link in the chain of moral history of England which they alone in this period
supply. They stand, indeed, singly, as far as I know, in Europe ; for though it is highly
probable that in the archives of Italian families, if not in France or Germany, a series of
merely private letters equally ancient may be concealed ; I do not recollect that any have
been published. They are all written in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV., except a
few that extend as far as Henry VII., by different members of a wealthy and respectable, but
not noble, family ; and are, therefore, pictures of the life of the English gentry of that age.'
THE MORNING POST : ' A reprint of Mr. James Gairdner's edition of The Paston
Letters with some fresh matter, including a new introduction. Originally published in
1872-75, it was reprinted in 1895, and is now again reproduced. The introductions have
been reset in larger type, and joined together in one, conveniently broken here and there by
fresh headings. The preface is practically a new one. ... It is highly satisfactory for
readers who care about history, social or political, to have this well-printed and admirably
introduced and annotated edition of these famous letters.'
MANCHESTER GUARDIAN : One of the monuments of English historical scholar-
ship that needs no commendation.*
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2 WHITEHALL GARDENS WESTMINSTER
The first English Translation of Chateaubriand's famous
Autobiography * Memoirh d' Outre tombe*
THE
POSTHUMOUS MEMOIRS
OF FRANCOIS RENE
VICOMTE DE CHATEAUBRIAND
Sometime Ambassador
to England
Translated by ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS
With 44 Illustrations from Contemporary Sources
In 6 vols. Purple cloth, gilt top, price 4 los. net
DR. WILLIAM BARRY in the Bookman : * Mr. de Mattos has seen a rare
chance, and has taken it boldly. . . . These "Memoirs from Beyond
the Tomb " are certainly unploughed land, inviolate as some Greek Temple
enclosure or, to put the matter more temptingly, if half a dozen books over-
flowing with incidents, reflections, descriptions of persons and landscapes ;
picturesque, irritating, curious, and brilliant, equal to these, were flung upon
the circulating libraries, someone would make his fortune. Let us hope it will
be Mr. de Mattos.'
MR. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, K.C., M.P., in the Westminster Gazette : ' This
excellent translation.'
Pall Mall Gazette : * There is reason to congratulate Mr. de Mattos on the
grace and fluency of his translation, and on the careful accuracy of his
numerous footnotes.'
Times : * Mr. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos's excellent rendering of
Chateaubriand's Mtmoire's d" 1 Outre-tombed
Observer : ' Mr. A. Teixeira de Mattos is to be congratulated upon this
first instalment of a remarkable achievement. ... A worthy translation. . . .
So admirable an English version as is given by the zeal and talent of Mr. de
Mattos.'
Daily Telegraph : ' A valuable and scholarly translation . . . elucidated
by concise and sufficient footnotes wherever necessary.'
Tablet : ' Both translator and publisher have performed their task well. . . .
Mr. de Mattos set himself to make a conscientiously correct and respectful
translation of a great original, and he has given us so excellent a rendering, so
adequately and beautifully produced and illustrated by the publishers, that we
await the remaining volumes with the greatest interest.'
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2 WHITEHALL GARDENS WESTMINSTER
The Old Court Suburb
(KENSINGTON)
By J. H. LEIGH HUNT
Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by AUSTIN DOBSON
With very numerous Photogravure and other Illustrations by HERBERT
RAILTON, CLAUDE SHEPPERSON, and EDMUND J. SULLIVAN
2 vols., large square 8vo, price i is. net
EDITION DE LUXE
Signed by the Artists, and limited to 150 copies, price 4 4*. net.
Kensington (the Old Court Suburb) was still, at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, in the country, and the garden of Wilberforce, who
occupied Gore House from 1808 to 1825, is described as being 'full of
lilacs and laburnums, nightingales and swallows.'
* The way to it (Kensington) is the pleasantest out of town ; you may
walk in high road, or on grass, as you please ; the fresh air salutes you from
a healthy soil, and there is not a step of the way, from its commencement at
Kensington Gore to its termination beyond Holland House, in which you
are not greeted with the face of some pleasant memory.'
ATHENAEUM : ' To produce a good old book and make it a new one without offence
is a great feat. . . . Mr. Austin Dobson was the very man to write the graceful introduction
and brief notes. . . .'
Gilbert White's Selborne
Edited by DR. R. BOWDLER SHARPE
The hitherto unpublished l Garden Kalendar,' to which the Very
Rev. DEAN HOLE has written an Introduction, is included
Illustrated by E. J. SULLIVAN, J. G. KEULEMANS, and HERBERT RAILTON
Price, 2 vols. large 8vo, 2 2s. net.
COUNTRY LIFE : 'The Edition of "The Natural History and Antiquities of
Selborne and A Garden Kalendar," issued in two volumes, is a work so modestly beautiful,
and so precious, that the reviewer approaches it with awe. . . . The topographical pictures
by Mr. Herbert Railton of the familiar objects at Selborne Norton Farm, the Plestor,
the Street, the Church, the Yew Tree, and so forth are as good as can be, the very
perfection of delicate work. Birds and beasts have fallen to the lot of Mr. J. G. Keule-
mans, and, short of colour, I have never seen anything of the kind nearly as good as they
are. The birds are, perhaps, a trifle more perfect than the beasts. Of full-page illustrations
there are fifty ; of minor illustrations a good number. . . . Altogether this is a very com-
plete and worthy edition, and it is destined to be the family Bible of those who follow the
cult of Gilbert White, and the number of them increases every day.'
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The Church Plate of the
County of Hereford
BY
THE HON. BERKELEY L. SCUDAMORE STANHOPE, M.A.
ARCHDEACON OF HEREFORD, AND HAROLD
C. MOFFATT, M.A.
Demy 4/0. Illustrated. Price 31$. 6d. net
Edition limited to 250 copies
This volume is published with the view to furnishing a
record of the Communion Vessels belonging to each Church,
or Mission Church, in the County of Hereford, including one
or two private Chapels. Similar works have already been
published for several Counties, while in other Counties pro-
gress is being made with such inventories.
The size of the book is Demy-Quarto, bound in buckram,
with 17 photogravure plates, and 9 half-tone plates from
photographs and pen and ink drawings. The illustrations
have been prepared by Messrs. T. & R. Annan & Sons, of
Glasgow. The Parishes are alphabetically arranged for easy
reference, and the name of the Parish is printed under the
vessel pictured in each illustration.
An Inventory of Church Goods in this County, as returned
by King Edward VI.'s Commissioners in 1552-53, is included
as an appendix, being the first time these returns have been
published in their entirety for this County.
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TO BE PUBLISHED SHORTLT
The History of the King's Bodyguard
of the Yeomen of the Guard
Instituted by King Henry VII. in the Year 1485 under the title of
'Valecti Garde Corporis Nostri'
DEDICATED BY SPECIAL PERMISSION TO
His MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY KING EDWARD VII.
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, AND OF THE BRITISH
DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, DEFENDER OF
THE FAITH, EMPEROR OF INDIA, ETC.
BY
COLONEL SIR REGINALD HENNEL, KT., D.S.O.
LIEUTENANT THE KING'S BODYGUARD OF THE
YEOMEN OF THE GUARD
The Edition, which will contain some seventy coloured plates,
photogravures, collotype plates, etc., will be strictly limited to 300
copies for sale and 1 5 copies for presentation. The names of sub-
scribers before going to press will be printed in the volume. The
price of the volume will be 3 35. net to subscribers before publication,
after which the right is reserved to raise the price.
The History will consist of :
I. Brief account of the Bodyguards of the Kings of England
from Canute to Richard III.
II. Creation of the ' Yeomen of the Guard * by Henry VII. on
or about the 22nd August, 1485.
III. The Guard's first title, its first establishment, the first
Captain and Officers, its original dress, weapons, pay, and
duties.
IV. History of the Guard at Home and Abroad for 418 years,
with detailed accounts of the Battles and Sieges at which
it has been present, and the principal Historical Events in
which it has taken part.
V. Historical Roll of the Officers 1485 to 1903, and many
Muster Rolls of the Yeomen at great ceremonies.
These Historical Rolls give the dates of appointment verified from
the actual Warrants in the State Records, and show that upwards of
200 of our oldest families have had ancestors amongst the Officers,
many of whom are renowned in English History.
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